Re: Places to fly King Air\'s...
Here is an Update from Today's paper:
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Survivors of Wellstone crash victims settle for $25 million
Tony Kennedy and Paul McEnroe, Star Tribune
Published August 28, 2003 WELL28
Survivors of the late Sen. Paul Wellstone and five other passengers killed in an October plane crash have reached a $25 million insurance settlement with the air charter company that operated the flight.
Mike Ciresi and Roberta Walburn, who represented the families of all six passengers who died in the Oct. 25 crash, said the settlement will avert a lawsuit by their clients against Aviation Charter Inc. of Eden Prairie and its affiliated companies.
Ciresi and Walburn said their investigation determined that pilot error brought down the twin-engine Beechcraft King Air A100 as it approached Eveleth-Virginia Municipal Airport en route to a funeral that Wellstone and his group were to attend.
The National Transportation Safety Board has not formally determined the cause of the crash, although preliminary reports released by the safety board this spring strongly suggest pilot error contributed to the crash.
In particular, Ciresi and Walburn said flight captain Richard Conry, 55, and copilot Michael Guess, 30, "failed to maintain appropriate power and airspeed."
They also said the "lack of competence" of the crew was the result of "among other things the negligent hiring, supervision, training and retention of the crew by the settling companies."
Mike Lindberg, attorney for Aviation Charter, confirmed the settlement but said it is not an acknowledgment of pilot error or that the management of Aviation Charter had any responsibility for the crash.
"A settlement, by definition, does not acknowledge an act," Lindberg said. "The settlement is a way to avoid ongoing litigation. The motivation for the settlement is something we will not comment on."
Ciresi and Walburn said the weather at the time of the crash was not "optimum" but "should not have presented a problem to competently trained and supervised pilots."
The two lawyers also said there has been no credible evidence to support "any so-called conspiracy theories" about the crash.
The settlements with Aviation Charter and its affiliated companies -- all owned by Roger and Shirley Wikner of the Twin Cities -- is for the full amount of the Wikners' insurance. The settlements do not cover the pilots' families.
Errol Kantor, an attorney for Conry's estate, could not be reached for comment.
Michael Padden, the attorney for Guess' family, said that if there was error on the part of the crew, it belonged to Conry.
Padden said he has hired four consultants who believe Conry was flying the plane at the time of the crash. Guess' voice was the last one heard on the radio before the crash, according to the NTSB investigation. Typically, the person heard on the radio is not flying the plane.
Padden said he intends to file a wrongful death suit against Conry's estate on behalf of Michael Guess' family. He said that Guess' estate was paid $60,000 in a workers' compensation settlement and that he believes Conry's estate received a similar amount.
Division of money
The passenger settlements designate a specific amount of money for the families of each victim. Trustees for each victim will disburse the money under arrangements that will be subject to court approval.
The breakdown:
• Sen. Paul Wellstone, $7 million.
• Mary McEvoy, 49, associate chair of the state DFL Party, $4.5 million.
• Marcia Wellstone Markuson, 33, the senator's daughter, $3.75 million.
• Sheila Wellstone, 58, the senator's wife, $3.25 million.
• Tom Lapic, 49, the senator's deputy state director, $3.25 million.
• Will McLaughlin, 23, a campaign worker, $3.25 million.
Ciresi and Walburn said their investigation is continuing. They declined to comment, however, when asked whether they are considering suits against the Federal Aviation Administration and the state of Minnesota.
The FAA licensed the pilots and the charter company. The state maintained the navigational aid at Eveleth-Virginia Municipal Airport. The safety board determined immediately after the crash that the navigational signal at the airport was slightly out of tolerance.
Ciresi and Walburn did not characterize the amount of the settlement, beyond saying that it was for the full amount of the insurance policies. They said it was notable, however, that a settlement was reached within 10 months of the accident.
"That's generally pretty darn quick," Ciresi said.
When the court approves the exact distribution to the various next-of-kin, that information will be kept private, Ciresi said.
"The Eveleth crash took the lives of six extraordinary passengers, whose lives had been devoted to their families and to their beliefs that politics is an honorable profession intended to serve the public," Ciresi said. "They saw America as a beacon lighting the path to a more just world."
Paul and Sheila Wellstone were survived by two sons. Marcia Markuson had a husband, Todd Markuson, a son and three stepchildren. Mary McEvoy had a husband, James Cloyd, and three children. Tom Lapic had a wife, Trudy. Will McLaughlin was single.
Crash investigation
In late April, the safety board completed its major fact-finding. But a final report that includes a determination of the probable cause could take several more months.
In a series of findings, NTSB investigators concluded that the chartered airplane was flying dangerously slow on its final approach to the airport. The twin-turboprop King Air 100 crashed about 2 miles southeast of the runway on a cloudy morning.
In April, NTSB aerospace engineers released a detailed report that stated the plane had slowed to 76 knots, or 87 miles per hour, seconds before the crash. The plane's flight manual calls for a minimum airspeed in icing conditions of 140 knots.
The plane was flying at a time when other pilots in the area reported light to moderate icing.
The NTSB has found no indication of engine or propeller failure. The aircraft also had a clean maintenance history and underwent a detailed, scheduled inspection two months before it crashed, according to documents.
Speculation among aviation experts has focused on possible pilot error, and the NTSB has placed emphasis on the backgrounds of Conry and Guess that includes criticism of their perceived cockpit skills. For example, Conry made critical mistakes on two previous flights carrying Wellstone, the NTSB said. Those mistakes prompted the copilot on each flight to take corrective action to regain control of the plane, according to NTSB records.
Three days before the crash, Conry endangered Wellstone by flipping the wrong switch during takeoff from St. Paul. The copilot had to quickly take corrective measures when the plane pitched downward while trying to gain altitude just 300 feet off the ground.
After the plane safely landed in Rochester, Wellstone jokingly told Conry to "get some sleep," an NTSB report said. The copilot on that flight suggested to Conry that he should think about retiring.
Investigators said that a supervisor at Aviation Charter knew that some pilots considered Conry to be below-average, forgetful and prone to errors. When that information was released, Jeff Blodgett, Wellstone's campaign manager, said the senator and his staff were unaware of these concerns. Blodgett said that if they had known about those weaknesses, "huge alarm bells" would have gone off."
"We were deceived about Conry's flight experience and competence," Blodgett said. "We knew nothing about Conry's shortcomings. But others did. That's what is so awful."
The supervisor also told the NTSB that copilot Guess needed extra instruction.
Lindberg, the attorney for the Wikners, has said the couple were not aware that the flight skills of Conry and Guess had been criticized.
In the weeks after the crash, the Star Tribune also reported that Conry had exaggerated his flying experience and that he had done time in a federal prison camp in South Dakota more than a decade ago for felony fraud in a home construction case.
Roger Wikner told reporters that he was not aware of Conry's criminal history.