Plane Crash Case Settles for Just Over $2 Million

Charlotte, NCPlanes just don't fall out of the sky, say lawyers who have won sizeable settlements on behalf of their clients in plane crash lawsuits. An airplane crash, which almost always results in plane crash victims, is explained generally by aircraft failure, pilot failure, adverse weather or any combination of the three.

A legal professional representing the estate of a Georgia man killed in the crash of a small plane last year told North Carolina Lawyers Weekly (NCLW) that studies show about 80 percent of plane crashes occur shortly before, or after takeoff or landing due to pilot error or mechanical failure.

Thus the first determination must be if the plane was airworthy. If it was, then the liability scale tips more towards the pilot.

The case at issue, Ruggiero v. Blue Sky Airways Inc., et al resulted in a settlement of just over $2 million, with proceeds going to the decedent's wife and one of their three children, a minor daughter.

In the above noted case—the crash of a light plane that killed all six occupants-- lawyers ruled out engine failure and shifted the focus to a CFIT crash, or 'controlled flight into terrain.' The term refers to a collision in which an aircraft deemed airworthy and under active pilot control unintentionally flies into the ground.

According to eyewitness accounts of the February, 2008 plane crash a small C90A aircraft had been seen emerging from the clouds at roughly 11:28am on the morning of the plane crash. It was seen to descend rapidly, veered to the left of the runway and making a hard left turn at the end of the landing strip, before climbing back into what was described as fog.

The plane then emerged from the clouds and crashed nose-first into a residential area near US 52 South less than 1000 feet from the runway.

According to NCLW the pilot of the plane headed up a construction company. His passengers were those with whom he had an ongoing business relationship, or were in a position to employ the company for various projects.

Lawyers for the plaintiff argued that the C90A aircraft was airworthy at the time of the crash. As a result, pilot error was viewed as the primary cause.

Three defendants were named: the estate of the late pilot, the pilot's construction company and the company the pilot had created to own and operate the C90A aircraft.

The defendants settled for $2.025 million, which represented the defendants' insurance policy limits. The share of the settlement for the surviving minor daughter was approved by a probate court in Georgia.