Something for all of us to be aware of!

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Remember awhile back I wrote about how more stuff like this was going to happen? So are we all looking at criminal charges now if we ever have an accident? on error resume next flash2Installed = (IsObject(CreateObject("ShockwaveFlash.ShockwaveFlash.2"))) flash3Installed = (IsObject(CreateObject("ShockwaveFlash.ShockwaveFlash.3"))) flash4Installed = (IsObject(CreateObject("ShockwaveFlash.ShockwaveFlash.4"))) flash5Installed = (IsObject(CreateObject("ShockwaveFlash.ShockwaveFlash.5"))) flash6Installed = (IsObject(CreateObject("ShockwaveFlash.ShockwaveFlash.6"))) if(nNoFlash) { showTableBasedFlashAd("334.gif"); } else { showFlashAd("334.swf"); }

Hawaii Helicopter Pilot Charged With Manslaughter

Thu, 19 Jan '06
First Criminal Case Involving Helo Accident In State History

Not guilty. That's the plea from a Hawaiian helicopter pilot who appeared in court Tuesday on manslaughter charges related to an accident that claimed the lives of three people last year.
Glen Lampton was at the controls of a Heli USA tour helicopter that went down during heavy rain on September 23. In the days following the accident, Aero-News reported Lampton told investigators he believed the Eurocopter AS350 encountered wind shear, which led to the downing near Kauai's Ke'e Beach.
Lampton -- the first pilot in Hawaii's history to stand trial for criminal charges in a helicopter accident -- is also accused of reckless endangerment, providing a false statement and tampering with evidence. Trial is set for July 26, according to media reports.
Killed in the accident were Catherine Baron and Mary Soucy of Portland, ME, and Wisconsin resident Laverne Clifton. Two other passengers survived the crash.
After his plea, Lampton posted $100,000 bond. He has also asked the court to allow him to travel back and forth to his home in Las Vegas, NV.

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According to the NTSB Preliminary Report on the accident, Lampton told investigators he had checked the ATIS from the nearest airport, Lihue (PHLI) which reported no adverse weather. Other helicopter pilots told investigators the weather had been building in the area for several hours prior to the accident flight, and had to amend their flights to remain clear of the clouds and rain.
There were no reports of turbulence or wind shear associated with the storm, according to the preliminary report.
FMI: Read The NTSB Preliminary Report

 

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Whether it's an aircraft crash or a crash caused by a mattress blowing out of the bed of your pickup truck, you are at risk of becoming criminally charged. Operating an aircraft doesn't exempt you from criminal prosecution and you can become charged with a crime on your drive home tonight...even though you didn't have the intent...

http://www.heritage.org/Research/LegalIssues/lm7.cfm

To Act "Recklessly" or "Negligently"

The law also recognizes yet another culpable mental state with a further diminished aspect of purposefulness: One may be deemed guilty of a crime if one has acted with "criminal negligence." One common law definition of "criminal negligence" (that is, negligence of such a substantial kind and degree as to warrant punishment) suggests the nature of the historical definition: "aggravated, culpable, gross or reckless [conduct], that is, the conduct of the accused must be such a departure from what would be the conduct of an ordinarily prudent or careful man under the same circumstances as to be incompatible with a proper regard for human life."54 Under this standard, for example, chiropractic doctors who have recommended fasting as a treatment for tuberculosis have been convicted of culpably negligent manslaughter.55 Today, this type of "negligence" is more commonly called "recklessness"--that is, the awareness of a risk and disregard of the risk in circumstances that the law would consider unreasonable.

But this definition, limiting "criminal negligence" to, in effect, wanton recklessness, is no longer the rule. In many instances, the courts have allowed criminal convictions upon a showing of simple negligence--that is, a mere failure to exercise "reasonable care" that might normally give rise to civil tort liability. These cases, in contrast to those involving reckless conduct, concern situations where the actor was actually unaware of the risk involved, though perhaps he ought to have been.