Sask. man hurt in 2000 plane crash wins $1M court award

[Woxof38]

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/saskatchewan/s ... wsuit.html

"In a recently released court decision, Athabaska Airways and the pilot of the small plane that crashed in 2000 have been ordered to compensate........"

The article quoted and the pilot. Would this be correct?

[ZBBYLW]

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/saskatchewan/s ... wsuit.html

"In a recently released court decision, Athabaska Airways and the pilot of the small plane that crashed in 2000 have been ordered to compensate........"

The article quoted and the pilot. Would this be correct?

Well reading the link, it mentioned it flew into fog. Could have been a VFR flight that ran into IMC. The courts have come up with some crazier things in the past. Although it would be interesting who has to pay what share.

[Widow]

You can read the judgement here: http://www.lawsociety.sk.ca/judgments/2 ... kqb483.pdf

The defendants admit liability but there is disagreement as to an appropriate award.

Here's the CADORs:

CADORS Number: 2000C0169 Reporting Region: Prairie & Northern

Occurrence InformationOccurrence Type: Accident Occurrence Date: 2000/02/28
Occurrence Time: 0351 Z Day Or Night:
Fatalities: 0 Injuries: 7

Canadian Aerodrome ID: Aerodrome Name:
Occurrence Location: Stony Rapids, SK Province: Saskatchewan
Country: CANADA World Area: North America

Reported By: NavCanada AOR Number:
TSB Class Of Investigation: TSB Occurrence No.:
Event InformationCollision with terrain
Aircraft InformationFlight #:
Aircraft Category: Aeroplane Country of Registration: CANADA
Make: PIPER Model: PA31 350
Year Built: 1979 Amateur Built: No
Engine Make: Engine Model:
Engine Type: Reciprocating Gear Type: Land
Phase of Flight: Approach Damage: Unknown
Owner: ATHABASKA AIRWAYS LTD Operator:
Operator Type: Commercial

Detail InformationUser Name:
Date: 2000/02/28
Further Action Required: No
O.P.I.:
Narrative: The aircraft had departed Edmonton City Centre (Blatchford Field) on a charter flight to Stony Rapids, on board was the pilot and 6 passengers. The pilot was advised while on descent into Stony Rapids that a localized fog condition existed with IFR conditions with a ceiling at 300 feet overcast and 3 miles visibility. At 03:34Z the pilot advised that he was on a missed approach from an attempt to land at Runway 06. The pilot's last contact with Regina radio was at 03:51Z when he the pilot reported procedure turned inbound. A number of calls from Regina radio were fruitless. At 04:10Z Regina radio received word of an ELT signal in the Stony Rapids area. RCC, RCMP and the local CASARA group were advised that the aircraft had gone missing at 06:00Z search and rescue launched a C130 aircraft from Winnipeg. At08:58Z search and rescue advised that the aircraft had been located approximately 4 miles west of the Airport. RCC SARTEC were on the site at 09:00Z. At 10:20Z rescue advised that all 7occupants had suffered injuries 2, serious and 5 not serious. The pilot and 1 passenger were flown to Saskatoon for hospitalization. The other 5 passengers remained at Stony Rapids and were flown to Uranium City for evaluation (x-rays etc) and these passengers may be flown south for further evaluation TSB from Winnipeg, Edmonton and Ottawa are enroute and are expected to arrive at Stony Rapids in the afternoon of the 29th. The System Safety Minister's Observer is also enroute . The local CASARA group headed by Dave Webster,( the owner of Northern Dene Airways) launched a ground rescue mission. Mr. Webster had an aircraft depart Uranium City and fly at grid pattern at Stony to assist in the ground rescue. There were two front end loaders building a road as the searchers proceeded through dense coniferous trees and rock outcroppings to the site. The ground search party arrived on the scene just as the C130 Hercules arrived overhead. There were reports of aircraft fire, however one of the passengers who was injured himself, after assisting other occupants to vacate the aircraft was able to start a fire with the assistance of fuel fron the aircraft. This fire helped the ground searchers to better locate the wreckage and also afforded the injured occupants warmth. Both agencies are to be comended. OPI - System Safety

And the TSB report: http://www.tsb.gc.ca/eng/rapports-repor ... 0h0001.asp

[culver10]

delete

[Widow]

Poor guy can't clean his house properly ... c'mon now!

What I don't get is, these teachers were returning home from a conference ... weren't they considered "working" by the WCB?

[Bushav8er]

Lawyers and whiners - Common sense out the window

People, if you need an injury back and head, two of the hardest to actually prove, work well.

Read the judgement;
- sore back but went to work for a log home builder,
- back pain gets worst with prolonged sitting
- no medical findings for cause(s)
- depressed but marriage / separation may have lead to it,
- counselling was working but quit going

Don't get me wrong - sorry the accident happen and sorry people got hurt - glad everyone is ok but where are the other 5 lawsuits? Cash grabbing lawyer/client - BS urks me.

[JBI]

...

[2milefinal]

Hit by a drunk-driver ...I am not sure that is the same kinda thing(???)
I too would also like to know if there are any other passengers getting money.

[hydraulic fluid]

I think everyone is missing the main point....what the @#$! was he doing shooting an approach into Stony Rapids in 300'overcast,they only have a nbd there.The pilot fucked up...hopefully all the passengers get the same amount of money.

[v6g]

As plaintiffs cases like this go, it seems a fairly harsh injury (plane crash and all).

The thing that interests me, is that every year when I renew my car insurance, the insurance company tries to scare me into upping the maximum liability coverage from $1M to $5M. Every year I ask, "How many accidents each year result in damages in excess of $1M?" but I never get an answer.

It seems this size of claim is incredibly rare - I can carry that risk in future.

[Cat Driver]

The pilot was advised while on descent into Stony Rapids that a localized fog condition existed with IFR conditions with a ceiling at 300 feet overcast and 3 miles visibility. At 03:34Z the pilot advised that he was on a missed approach from an attempt to land at Runway 06. The pilot's last contact with Regina radio was at 03:51Z when he the pilot reported procedure turned inbound. A number of calls from Regina radio were fruitless.

It would be interesting to know what procedures he was following in the 17 minutes between his first missed approach and reporting procedure turn inbound.

[trey kule]

ah Cat, I would expect he was doing the usual...finishing the roach, figuring out where he was, having a couple of strong belts for courage, and making a few deals with the higher power so fear and common sense would not hold him back from trying another approach below minimmums...

Seriously, there was a trial...anyone who is commenting on the judgement hear all the facts, or just read the summary of the judgement? My feeling is that for the judgement to be this high, the judge was convinced that the injuries were real....but then he really does not have the insight of all the posters here, does he?

What I found a little odd was that it does not seem he hit the ground on the second approach, but somewhere else, although he called the beacon inbound....maybe I misinterpreted things, but it would seem he should have been coming into the runway ...

[rotorfloat]

From the accident report:

Following his second approach, he started heading for Fond-du-Lac, but changed his mind when he was able to see the runway momentarily. He then reverted to a visual approach and turned toward the airport in an attempt to fly under the cloud base. In trying to line up for a visual approach for runway 06, he ended up over higher ground in very poor weather conditions. Clouds were becoming thicker and closer to the ground as he was progressing toward the airport. While he was trying to acquire sight of the airport environment, using mainly ground references to provide vertical separation, the aircraft contacted the trees and crashed a few seconds after landing gear down had been selected..........The trees became his main reference, resulting in a lack of awareness of the actual separation between the aircraft and the ground. It is also probable that the pilot perceived the edge of the clouds as the horizon, thus perceiving the natural horizon to be lower on the windshield than it really was. The tendency is to feel that the nose of the aircraft is too high and there is a strong urge to lower it. Subsequently, the aircraft crashed in a relatively flat but higher area covered with small trees.

[xsbank]

Good post JBI; Is it beyond our expectations that a Navajo pilot should be able to descend to minimums in IMC, fly the procedure and NOT lose control of the aircraft?

..-running below IMC??

Companies that push the boundaries and hurt members of an unsuspecting public deserve to be slapped, and who cares what you think of lawyers?

Come on people, a limit is a limit is a limit. An MDA is a straightforward concept, simple enough to understand that even a low-time Navajo pilot can comprehend it; you are not allowed to descend below it until you are in a position to safely land. That's it. If you do, it is just a matter of time before you crash and you kill someone or yourself. You are just an aircraft operator, not an Aviation God and if you don't think you can smoke it in just like this guy did you should be selling used cars.

Just go to your alternate and tell everyone that it wasn't good enough. Period.

Anyone who bust limits will eventually end up like this.

Lucky no one died. The insurance company got off easy.

[JBI]

...

[2milefinal]

JBI
...thanks for the info.

Law school !, I wish.