Two Killed in Airplane Crash in Odessa, Florida
Airplane crash cases for single engine fixed wing aircraft reached a historic low of 6.32 accidents for 100,000 flight hours in 2006. The cause of these accidents is generally divided into three groups: pilot-related; mechanical/maintenance; and other/unknown – such as pilot incapacitation and those for which a specific cause could not be determined.
It would be hard to determine which category this case should fall into as there were several possible explanations for this airplane crash.
On a February evening at approximately 7:20 p.m., two friends were flying a Mooney M20J single engine plane near Odessa, Florida. As they approached the airport, they ran into telephone electrical wires and, after hitting the power lines, the plane hit some trees and slammed upside down into the ground while on final approach to the runway at the airport, killing both men.
Richard D. Schuler and Jason D. Weisser were contacted by the widow of one of the men killed in this accident, who requested that they represent her and the deceased’s four children in this wrongful death action. The couple had been married for approximately 20 years prior to the husband’s death, had three children from their marriage, and the husband had a son from a prior marriage, all of whom were understandably devastated by his loss and having a difficult time coping.
After an extensive and thorough investigation into all of the facts surrounding this case, the lawsuit filed named the power company, the airport, the aviation company assisting in the landing of the aircraft at the airport at the time of this incident, the manufacturer and the distributor of the altimeter in the aircraft at the time of this incident, and the company that repaired and overhauled the altimeter in the aircraft just prior to the time of this incident as defendants in this matter.
It was learned that as early as 1978, this airport was warned by the Florida Department of
Transportation inspector that there were certain hazards in the approach slope to Runway 26, the runway where this crash ultimately occurred. Specifically, it was pointed out that two power poles and their lines protruded above the maximum 20-1 slope required by Florida Statutes. It was indicated in correspondence dated June 15, 1978 that: “The power lines between the poles are particularly dangerous since they are difficult to see from aircraft. ….We urge you to have the wire and poles which constitute navigation hazards removed at the earliest possible time.”
There was a long track record of warnings to the airport owners with respect to the hazards to incoming landing aircraft, but the situation was not rectified and the power company did not follow up and assure that these suggested changes were instituted.
Another problem that these gentlemen faced while attempting to land their plane was that the representative of the aviation company had a duty to exercise reasonable care in providing assistance and information to them concerning their attempt to land at this airport, and he was negligent in that aspect.
Finally, the experts in this case believed that there was a problem with the altimeter in this aircraft so that these two gentlemen were not able to ascertain just how close to the ground they were as they approached the airport runway. During an inspection by one of the experts, it was his opinion that there was damage to the teeth of the altimeter which would be consistent with the altimeter locking up. During a second inspection, a piece of metallic debris was identified in the valley of two of the teeth in the gear train, which appeared to be aluminum, however, none of the component parts of gear train appeared to be aluminum.
So as you can see, there were several factors that could have contributed to this airplane crash. After a massive amount of hours were expended with investigation, taking depositions, pouring over a mountain of paperwork and various other tasks in order to bring this matter to a conclusion, Richard D. Schuler and Jason D. Weisser were successful in settling with all defendants in this case for the total sum of $1,895,000.00.
