What's the story?

chunk75

Well-Known Member
What\'s the story?

I don't trust any media reporting on aviation stories...

Pulled this out of the Vero Press Journal.....

http://www.tcpalm.com/tcp/pj_local_news/article/0,1651,TCP_1121_1077323,00.html

Pilots' families file wrongful death lawsuits
Roger Boromei, 31, of Mainesville, Ohio, and Ameer Bukhari, 39, of Saudi Arabia, died when the airplanes they were flying collided on Sept. 11, 2000.

By Mark Pollio staff writer
April 9, 2002

Family members of the two pilots killed in a mid-air collision near St. Lucie County International Airport filed lawsuits against each other and the Federal Aviation Administration recently.

Roger Boromei, 31, of Mainesville, Ohio, and Ameer Bukhari, 39, of Saudi Arabia, died when the airplanes they were flying collided on Sept. 11, 2000. Boromei was a commercial airline co-pilot. Bukhari was a student at Flight Safety International.

Last Wednesday, Boromei's family filed a $15 million wrongful death lawsuit in federal court. The suit states Bukhari, the FAA and Flight Safety International were to blame for the crash.

Monday, Bukhari's family filed a similar $15 million wrongful death suit. The suit places the blame on Boromei, the FAA and St. Lucie Petroleum, which owned the airplane that Boromei flew.

Boromei was flying from Okeechobee to St. Lucie County to meet his father. Bukhari was making a solo flight from Vero Beach to St. Lucie County as part of his student training.

The two airplanes collided three miles west of the St. Lucie airport. The twisted wreckage of both planes landed in a citrus grove near Panther Woods Country Club.

At all times relevant to this suit, Ameer Bukhari was negligent or reckless and failed to follow the mandatory requirement of Federal Aviation Regulations, wrote Thomas Scott, a Miami attorney who represents Boromei.

Scott claims in the suit that Bukhari was flying in weather that was too windy for an inexperienced pilot. The suit also asserts Bukhari did not understand English well enough to communicate properly with air traffic controllers.

Bukhari's attorney, Douglas Desjardins from Washington D.C., said it was Boromei's fault for clipping Bukhari's airplane from behind.

But for Boromei not seeing Bukhari and the pending confusion in the tower this would not have happened, Desjardins said. There is no way my client could have seen Boromei coming. There are no rear view mirrors in airplanes.

Desjardins said he has listened to recordings of the air traffic control communications. He said Bukhari was fluent in English.

Both sides have named the FAA in their lawsuits.

National Transportation Safety Board investigators determined confusion among two air traffic controllers at the St. Lucie County airport contributed to the crash.

Reports indicate the crash happened minutes after a shift change. It was a busy afternoon and the controller who had just started his shift did not have enough time to get a full briefing on traffic.

The controller ordered Bukhari to abort his landing, but the order came seconds too late. Controllers, using binoculars in a tower without radar, watched the two planes collide.

FAA Southeast Region spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen said FAA policy is to not comment on pending litigation. Bergen said she did not even know if the FAA had been notified of the lawsuits.

Each lawsuit names one other company in their lawsuits.

Bukhari's lawsuit blames St. Lucie Petroleum for the crash. Randy Jones, a personal friend of Boromei, owned St. Lucie Petroleum at the time of crash.

Boromei's lawsuit blames Flight Safety for allowing Bukhari to fly in conditions not suitable for a student pilot. The suit also claims Flight Safety was negligent in allowing Bukhari to pilot an airplane without a full understanding of the English language.
 
Re: What\'s the story?

15 mil?

Wonder if they'll be raising rates?!?!
wink.gif
 
Re: What\'s the story?

Personally, I'm not too worried about the lawsuit. These things have a way of working themselves out. Besides, that's why FSI has insurance.
 
Re: What\'s the story?

I went to the NTSB site and read the accident report. I do not think they really have a case against FSI. In the article one of the main arguments is that winds were too strong for the student to be flying, but in the accident report, winds at the time were said to be 090 at 9kts. the plane was in the pattern for runway 9. So not only was it not a very strong wind, it was straight down the runway. If you read the accident report, it sounds like it was an accident due to aircraft spacing during a controller switch.
 
Re: What\'s the story?

Here is some NTSB verbage that seems pretty straight forward and doesn't seem to implicate FSI. Of course, I am not a lawyer, and there is no way I would ever be one, scum. (that is the only profession in the world you can hate so much yet need one on your side at all times. Hmmm?)

NTSB Identification: ATL00FA091A. The docket is stored in the (offline) NTSB Imaging System.

Accident occurred Monday, September 11, 2000 at FT. PIERCE, FL
Aircraft:piper PA-28-161, registration: N9208N
Injuries: 2 Fatal.

A Cherokee was in the traffic pattern executing touch and go landing, and the Aztec was inbound to the airport. The Cherokee and the Aztec collided in-flight in controlled airspace, while under the control of the local controller. There was a shift change at the control tower a few minutes prior to the midair collision. The relieving local controller declined a formal briefing of the location of traffic because he was busy.

The National Transportation Safety Board determines the probable cause(s) of this accident as follows.
Failure of local controller to provide adequate spacing between two airplanes that resulted in a midair collision. Contributing Factors: the local controller declined receiving a formal brief before relieving the controller on duty. The controller who was relieved failed to ensure proper briefing of local traffic.
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