Boca pilot's family awarded $25 million in fatal mid-air collision near Deerfield

TheFlyingTurkey said:
I smell an ambulance chaser!
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Agree, somewhat. Interesting that they did not go after the pilots but the companies with the Deep Pocket$.

If the tower tells me to do something, I as PIC have the responsibiility of the final decision. If you feel it is unsafe, then you don't have to do so.

See and Avoid...
 
Noone here said that the pilots were not at fault, the replies all agree with that too. Moving past that aspect, once you have a liable defendant, you have to figure out the plaintiff award. What I'm saying is that people should have a little more sympathy for victims instead saying that they got too much money.

Maybe the defendant lawyer was rude, and it rubbed the jurors the wrong way, maybe the plaintiff lawyer was good and presented a strong case, noone knows. Any one of these things can make a losing case into a winner, or vice versa and change the award. Cases can be won or lost on technicalities. What bothers me, is the extremely accusatory tone of some of the earlier posts, saying that the vicitims were gladly "profiting" from the death. It's kind of insenstive, don't you think? Noone has the right to say that this man's life wasn't worth xxx dollars, and that their survivors are greedy, but that's what some posts here are suggesting.

As for who was liable, based off that article, I don't have a differing opinion on that...the justice system isn't perfect. People sue over little stuff, and on the other end, little people are regularly trampled by big money.
 
The one thing I found interesting is how the family sued Gulfstream Academy and got a settlement. They felt that the other pilot was not properly trained, but why stop there shouldn't the FAA be held liable also. After all they issued his ticket. They were just training to FAA dictated minimums. What about the DPE who did his checkride? It just amazes me how far some of these things go. That family should have gotten a better lawyer they could have made a lot more than what they did. I feel sorry for the families loss but that lawsuit was just an angry response to a tragic situation.
 
grassrootsflying said:
Noone here said that the pilots were not at fault, the replies all agree with that too. Moving past that aspect, once you have a liable defendant, you have to figure out the plaintiff award. What I'm saying is that people should have a little more sympathy for victims instead saying that they got too much money.

Maybe the defendant lawyer was rude, and it rubbed the jurors the wrong way, maybe the plaintiff lawyer was good and presented a strong case, noone knows. Any one of these things can make a losing case into a winner, or vice versa and change the award. Cases can be won or lost on technicalities. What bothers me, is the extremely accusatory tone of some of the earlier posts, saying that the vicitims were gladly "profiting" from the death. It's kind of insenstive, don't you think? Noone has the right to say that this man's life wasn't worth xxx dollars, and that their survivors are greedy, but that's what some posts here are suggesting.

As for who was liable, based off that article, I don't have a differing opinion on that...the justice system isn't perfect. People sue over little stuff, and on the other end, little people are regularly trampled by big money.
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Excuse me, but the "victims" were dead! In some cases in these frivolous lawsuits, it's cousins that are suing! Why do we call surviving cousins victims?

It's thiniking like this that SUCKS in this country. I bet you this chaplain had some sort of financial plan, maybe even life insurance.

The profiteering on disaster by lawyers in this country is disgusting.
 
grassrootsflying said:
What I'm saying is that people should have a little more sympathy for victims instead saying that they got too much money.
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The award was insane. They got too much money, especially since the defendant wasn't at fault. Not blaming the widow, she wasn't running the show. It's not the attorney's fault. It's a broken system.

One of the reasons lawyers love aviation cases is they know the jurors are completely ignorant and can be manipulated into finding the wrong defendant liable. The other thing lawyers love is dead ministers with a grieving widow and four fatherless kids. I'll bet the attorny made sure the family was there every day, front and center, for the jury to see. I'll also bet the only thing on most jurors' mind was "how much money can we get away with giving these poor people?"

Just the way it is. Might as well laugh about it, because crying doesn't help.
 
flyover said:
The award was insane. They got too much money, especially since the defendant wasn't at fault. Not blaming the widow, she wasn't running the show. It's not the attorney's fault. It's a broken system.

One of the reasons lawyers love aviation cases is they know the jurors are completely ignorant and can be manipulated into finding the wrong defendant liable. The other thing lawyers love is dead ministers with a grieving widow and four fatherless kids. I'll bet the attorny made sure the family was there every day, front and center, for the jury to see. I'll also bet the only thing on most jurors' mind was "how much money can we get away with giving these poor people?"
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From your authoritative tone on the amount, I assume that you are a legal expert who studied this case. Noone likes it when airnetters with no flight experience lecture on how to fly an approach...You sound like you know a lot about the legal system and what suckers jurors are. And you said something cruel which provoked my response, that if the widow was dating again after getting money, and I'm guessing you didn't say that out of concern. Have a little heart for the suffering of other human beings, huh?

And yes mr creepy, the family are victims. And do you really think that this guy's goal was to kill himself and others? You don't have to be dead to be a victim. This family lost their caregiver. If someone witnessed planes crashing into the trade centers and experiences mental trauma are they a victim? Yes. If your wife or husband was killed in war, are you a victim of war? Even though you're not dead, yes.

This whole thread suggests that victims profit from disaster-not true-only lawyers do. It sucks, but they are the only ones who prevent big business from steamrolling over your personal rights. And yes, on the other side lawyers are also the ones facilitating your rights being crushed. Kind of an interesting indicator of human desires, huh? Kind of like this thread??!
 
All the arguing aside...

He wasn't flying in North Dakota where there aren't airplane for miles and miles...

This is SOUTH FLORIDA. Near a BRAVO. Near 4 Major high-density airports. Over the most coveted VFR area, a southern FL beach! Collision avoidance should be your NUMBER 1 priority. There is no excuse for this.

This isn't the controllers fault or Robinson Aviation's fault. This is the PILOT IN COMMAND of the aircraft's fault. This is blood money, just a wife trying to get as much money from a death as she could. Pitiful. I have no sympathy for these people now.

Just my opinion.
 
SmitteyB said:
All the arguing aside...

He wasn't flying in North Dakota where there aren't airplane for miles and miles...

This is SOUTH FLORIDA. Near a BRAVO. Near 4 Major high-density airports. Over the most coveted VFR area, a southern FL beach! Collision avoidance should be your NUMBER 1 priority. There is no excuse for this.

This isn't the controllers fault or Robinson Aviation's fault. This is the PILOT IN COMMAND of the aircraft's fault. This is blood money, just a wife trying to get as much money from a death as she could. Pitiful. I have no sympathy for these people now.

Just my opinion.
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Sounds like a good place to get my training.:)
 
BCTAv8r said:
Sounds like a good place to get my training.:)
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Haha, way to break it up!

But one last question: how much is your father's life worth? How much is your life worth? I know someone who was on a motorcycle and was killed by an inattentive driver. The case when someone's life is valued at more than a few hundred thousand dollars is rare.

Do you have health insurance? Well if you get cancer and require a few years of treatment, guess what? Your insurance may not cover it and you may die as a result. What is your life worth?
 
I thought VFR flight meant the PIC is responsible to see and avoid traffic. The FARs agree with me. So why the $25M??

Too bad they didn't shut down the rest of the Gulfstream PFT Factory.
 
I'd be careful about bashing the family on this one. This was a fairly well publicized accident at the time, and it's not unreasonable to think that a hot shot attorney contacted the widow and offered to initiate the lawsuit, at no cost.

If a loved one close to me had died, and someone called me up telling me something along the lines of "Someone will pay for this! And I mean pay($$)!" with a nothing-to-lose offer, I'd be lying if I said I'd turn it down, and so would the rest of you.
 
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