Dead Pilot's Estate Listed in Twin Otter Skydiving Crash:

[FN FAL]

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/ne...5B9AD5A15296AA4C862571BE0077C5A8?OpenDocument


The suit also names the Quantum Leap Skydiving Center, which operated the skydiving club; the airport, which serviced and maintained the plane; Adventure Aviation, which owned the plane; and pilot Scott Cowan, who also perished in the crash.

:nuts:

 

[FN FAL]

"The only words you can say is that he is her hero."

Kimberly's sister Tracey explained how the instructor shielded Kimberly from the impact.

"(He said) I'm going to clip you to me so that I take the major brunt of the impact and hope for the best," Ms Dear said.

Dad praises plane crash 'hero'

August 01, 2006

A MELBOURNE man has praised the sky diving instructor who shielded his 21-year-old daughter from the brunt of a fatal plane crash in the US.


Six people were killed when their plane hit a power pole and then nosedived into a tree, narrowly missing a house, soon after take-off from an airport near St Louis, in Missouri, on Saturday afternoon.
The two people who remain with serious injuries in a US hospital include Melbourne woman Kimberly Dear, who was overseas on holiday.

Her father Bill, who lives in the Melbourne suburb of Sydenham, spoke to the Nine Network from his daughter's hospital room in the US today.

He praised the final actions of 22-year-old sky diving instructor Robert Cook, who was killed in the crash.

"I'm sitting here with my daughter I'm looking at her in extreme pain and stress," Mr Dear said.

"I'm feeling a sense of such gratitude to Robert for what he did (and) I'm just thanking God I've got my daughter.

"There are no words that I can say, and nothing I could ever do, that would ever come close to expressing the sense of gratitude and admiration and respect I have for the guy.

"The only words you can say is that he is her hero."

Kimberly's sister Tracey explained how the instructor shielded Kimberly from the impact.

"(He said) I'm going to clip you to me so that I take the major brunt of the impact and hope for the best," Ms Dear said.

Investigators believe the plane suffered an engine failure, and a witness has reported seeing the plane's right engine burst into flame moments after take-off.

Kimberly is not expected to return to Australia for several weeks, her father said.

"The only plane she wants to get on is the plane home," Mr Dear also said.

 

[Way2Broke]

He gave his life to save another. The ultimate sacrifice. RIP

 

[freeflyer14]

Makes me sick... As if his family isn't going through enough right now, they have to deal with this... Blue Skies to all 6 who passed, and may the 2 survivors make it through.

 

[Hand Commander]

Lawsuits filed less than a week after the crash? I wonder if they buried their daughter before, during, or after they filed legal paperwork. I guess the investigation is useless since its already been determined who is at fault. I wonder if the waiver will hold up.

 

[kevdog]

I wonder if the waiver will hold up.

Don't they always? Everyone I ever signed always had me initial the paragraph that said I could die and was aware of the risk.

Blue Skies! Black Death!

 

[FN FAL]

Don't they always? Everyone I ever signed always had me initial the paragraph that said I could die and was aware of the risk.

That's just it, the parents never signed such a thing, nor did PT 6 people or DH.

You cannot waive the rights of other persons, only your own.

 

[freeflyer14]

Skydiving waivers have been beaten before haven't they FN? I was discussing this at the DZ the other day actually, and no one knew for sure if there has been a case where a person was hurt or killed skydiving and sued the dropzone sucessfully. I know the first tandem death this year resulted in jail time for the TM out of gross negligence, but has there been any cases you know of where a student (or experienced jumper for that matter) sued and won?

 

[kevdog]

Skydiving waivers have been beaten before haven't they FN? I was discussing this at the DZ the other day actually, and no one knew for sure if there has been a case where a person was hurt or killed skydiving and sued the dropzone sucessfully. I know the first tandem death this year resulted in jail time for the TM out of gross negligence, but has there been any cases you know of where a student (or experienced jumper for that matter) sued and won?

ANother aspect to this is how DZs handle insurance. Most of the bigger ones don't have any and when lawyers find this out, they usually become disinterested because there is no money to go after. This is also the case for equipment manufacturers. Most bigger DZs usually have a few lawsuits going on behind the scenes from students.

 

[FN FAL]

Skydiving waivers have been beaten before haven't they FN? I was discussing this at the DZ the other day actually, and no one knew for sure if there has been a case where a person was hurt or killed skydiving and sued the drop zone successfully. I know the first tandem death this year resulted in jail time for the TM out of gross negligence, but has there been any cases you know of where a student (or experienced jumper for that matter) sued and won?

I think Avbug or A Squared had something to say in regards to skydiving waivers a while back.

All I know is that at my old drop zone, a lady broke her ankle during a tandem jump as a student/passenger. She signed a waiver and the club didn't have any insurance. Her lawyer called up claiming that waiver wasn't worth the paper it was printed on, but promptly shut the hell up when the club president told them the club had no money, assets or insurance.

If you were to be skydiving as student or a licensed jumper and wanted to sue the drop zone because you broke a hip in bad landing, I can't think of many judges that would look at your signature x 20 on a skydiving waiver and think that you're going to go far with your case...after all, you're the idiot jumping out of perfectly good airplanes.

On the other hand, let's just say for hypothetical case, that the drop zone with the twin otter had an unqualified pilot flying or an unqualified mechanic wrenching on the engine, or is found to be severely negligent in some manner regarding the crash...wouldn't you think that would be a violation of trust? It would probably mean that waiver is junk.

Besides, if there's a death and your wife sues or your parents sue or your children sue, they didn't sign no waiver.

Other people that didn't sign the waiver are the people you crash into when you make an accidental off airport landing under canopy, they whose house you crash through when you didn't open your canopy, the guy in the 172 that happened to flying over the drop zone when you exited the plane. Tons of people have not signed the waiver, that could be effected by some tragedy at a drop zone.

 

[skydivinguy]

I remember several years ago someones parents got past the waiver and sued a DZ because of emotional distress at seeing the "child" bounce, not sure of the outcome tho.

Pretty $hitty these people filing this lawsuit this quick! Wonder how they decided that PWC was at fault? Suing the airport for what, fueling the plane, geez!

 

[FN FAL]

I remember several years ago someones parents got past the waiver and sued a DZ because of emotional distress at seeing the "child" bounce, not sure of the outcome tho.

That is not getting past the waiver.

 

[Van Hooydonk]

FN FAL, the fact that the heirs, next of kin, etc... did not sign the waiver is of no significance--you CAN waive their right to sue. While at first blush it may appear logical that the deceased cannot waive the rights of another, this is not the case in a derivative action, such as wrongful death. Since the only rights that heirs have, are those that are passed on by the dead skydiver, the skydiver can effectively terminate those rights at his death by signing a waiver. Think of it like giving away your valuables before you die, so that your heirs get nothing. Aside from the wrongful death claim that was waived, the heirs have no legal remedy over the death of their son, daughter, mom, etc. It would be no different than if your best friend was killed in a skydiving accident. Yes, you would be upset and suffer a great loss--maybe even a greater loss than if one of your parents was killed-- but you have no legally recognizable cause of action.

That said, you can never waive gross negligence. FN FAl you were right on the money about this. This a matter of public policy. The rationale for this is that at some level the law will hold you responsible for your actions, if they are viewed eggregious. For example lets say that the guy who was performing maintenance on the PT-6s of the Otter was not an A&P and everything he knew about engines he learned in vo-tech class for auto engines. If the otter went down because of his faulty repair to some engine component, the waiver will be stuck down. Or lets say the guy who repacked your main and reserve chutes never hooked the canopies to the risers. This conduct would probably rise to the level of gross negligence and the waiver would be unenforceable.

I can tell you this as well. If these waivers were not ironclad, the sport of skydiving as we know it would not exist in the US. Of course, smart DZ owners know as well, that carrying no insurance, not owning any tangible assets, and alerting potential litigants of this as soon as possible discourages would-be litigants. I would bet that most of the DZs that use Otters lease them. My personal favorite is the tandem rig mfgr named "The Uninsured Relatiave Workshop" The beauty of this name, is that not only does it alert attorneys of no insurance, but should a case somehow get past all the other hurdles and make it to trial, the jury will know that the defendant is uninsured, by the name of the company. In most jurisdictions you are not allowed to mention insurance to jurors during a trial.

Also some DZs, Perris Valley comes to mind, make you sign the wiavers and give a recorded statement in front of a video camera, that you know what you are signing and what you are doing. They keep this on file, I imagine to show your heirs in case they get any ideas about a lawsuit.

All this said, the usual disclaimer applies... I am not a lawyer...the above is not intended to be legal advice...nor should it be used as such...yada,yada, yada. Blue skies, black death.

 

[kevdog]

I remember several years ago someones parents got past the waiver and sued a DZ because of emotional distress at seeing the "child" bounce, not sure of the outcome tho.

That's why we played bounce bingo. It took about 8 years but someone won about a grand.