Carnahan family gets 4 million...

[ShawnC]

100 bucks says the plantiffs are Republicans......

Of course they are, they are the only ones that are proposing tort reform. If it wasn't for an act of congress Cessna, and Piper wouldn't be producing GA planes anymore because of the liability.

 

[LJDRVR]

We could bash plantiff's attorny types all day, but I for one, would like to look at the other side of this equation.

I'm going to take some heat saying this, but I would contend the biggest part of the problem, not to mention the part we actually have some control over, is GA pilots who have no business flying the airplanes they do in the conditions they do. I instructed for two and half years. The quality of aviatiors I saw ran the gamut, but the average person arriving for a flight review was sub-par. (Not performing to Private Pilot PTS standards) This all comes down to being responsible. If one is going to exercise the privileges of their certificate, one had better "step up to the plate" and be able to perform in a safe manner. Why is it, as a professionally trained pilot who logs 50 hours a month, I have to know my bold-face rote and be able to perform it flawlessly? (As I SHOULD have to) Yet some guy with his own Apache, who flys 50 hours a year, doesn't even know the memory items for engine failure in flight, instead half-a$$ing his way through some "approximation"? If this were just some one-off occurance I'd chalk it up to whatever, but I routinely saw garbage like this again and again. "Do you want me to use the checklist?" No, good god, lets just see how much you've forgoten..YES I want you to use it!

if you read Aviation Safety, you can look at the accident synopsis for a given month and it's disgusting! about every 2 days someone has an accident that just reading the prelim has pilot error written all over it. Until GA does a better job policing itself and controlling it's rogues, GA will continue to suffer. We can blame lawyers, but we shoould instead be taking a good look at ourselves.

How many of you GA guys impose some sort of structured, instructor-driven recurrent training on yourselves every year, with a six-month evalution flight? Not many. Why is it you think you need less training and checking than a professional crew with years of experience?

How many of you folks who answered "no" to the last question spent several thousand dollars this year on some Garmin moving map/comm thingy? How useful is that piece of automation going to be to you when you find yourself in a situation where your skill has been overun by the situation which you find yourself?

How many of you CFI's out there gave a flight review last year to an owner of a high performance single or twin with an instrument rating, without making that individual perform an instrument competency check concurrent with the review? How different would have the accident in question had turned out if a professional had held the deceased twin Cessna pilot's feet to the fire? Maybe no difference at all, but we'll never know.

So...I'm interested to hear from you all. how many of you GA folks DO have some sort of structured reccurent training program like the one I've described above? Anyone who doesn't care to justify their position?

"There comes a time in every man's life when he is called upon to do something very special; something for which he and only he has the capabilities, skills, and has the necessary training. What a pity if the moment finds the man unprepared."

Winston Churchill

 

[Flyin' South]

I don't blame non-lawyers for not knowing about the statute that prohibits the jury from hearing conclusions of the NTSB in civil cases. But believe me, sometimes that benefits the defense. The NTSB, just like the FAA, or any other gov't agency, is not perfect. Sometimes they make mistakes. I'm sure Parker Hannifin has been burned in the past by an NTSB report or two.

Also, this $4 million verdict is no huge win for the Carnahans. They were asking for $100 million and the jury refused to award punitive damages. Given the fact that Mel Carnahan was a popular governor, his wife a senator, and one of their witnesses, the current Governor, Bob Holden, I'd venture an uneducated guess that P-H offered more than $4 million to settle the case before trial and the Carnahans turned it down. I read an article in which P-H said that they would not appeal, so obviously they don't consider this a big loss in a case of this magnitude.

I don't have any statistics on how many frivolous lawsuits succeed. Probably too many. People will say alot of things when big money is at stake.

 

[rfeathe1]

We probably wouldn't be having this conversation about vacuum pump failure if the industry had stuck with the wet pumps. I've flown 16000+ hours, 8000+ hours in GA aircraft & I've never had a failure with a wet pump. I've had numerous dry pump failures--probably too many to count. I think it is almost criminal that the pump manufactures went to the dry pumps, knowing full well that they were unreliable. I think they made a conscious decision to switch to dry pumps just to increase their business. Say what you will--I welcome lawsuits of this nature. (assuming it was vacuum pump failure). I think some sharp law firm should sue all the vacuum pump manufactures collectively on behalf of multible clients (class action?). The end result could be a return to the wet pump or at least offering it as an option.

 

[100LL... Again!]

Here's another ugly truth-

By sucessfully suing the manufacturer, families of dead pilots are able to help relieve the sense that their loved one was a less than capable pilot.

"It.. it... it can't be my son's fault! He was an excellent pilot. He would never crash!"

The need to portray their dead as a helpless victim instead of part of the problem gives them someone to hate/blame.

Get real - and deal with the fact that some people are less prepared than they should be for the responsilbilities that they are handed.