Cessna sued for skydiving accident.

The parents of Bryan Jones, a 34 year old Microsoft engineer who was
one of nine skydivers killed in the crash of a Cessna Caravan, are
suing Cessna. The Caravan was returning from Star, Idaho, to Shelton,
Washington. The parents are alleging that the Cessna Caravan was
defective and should not have been flying in icy weather. The airplane
is not certified for flight into known ice, although the plane in
question did have boots.

So, Cessna is being blamed because a pilot may have operated the plane
in direct contradiction to the aircraft flight manual and warnings in
Cessna's operating instructions.
--
Waddling Eagle
World Famous Flight Instructor

C J Campbell wrote:
The parents of Bryan Jones, a 34 year old Microsoft engineer who was one
of nine skydivers killed in the crash of a Cessna Caravan, are suing
Cessna. The Caravan was returning from Star, Idaho, to Shelton,
Washington. The parents are alleging that the Cessna Caravan was
defective and should not have been flying in icy weather. The airplane
is not certified for flight into known ice, although the plane in
question did have boots.

So, Cessna is being blamed because a pilot may have operated the plane
in direct contradiction to the aircraft flight manual and warnings in
Cessna's operating instructions.

If this is true, you are viewing what has become one of the prime
reasons associated with the virtual end of General Aviation as at least
I knew it for the first 25 years I was involved in aviation.
It's the trial lawyers. They will go after anything and everything with
deep pockets involved in an accident. They operate in conditions like
these on the premise that REGARDLESS of the appropriate and
inappropriate actions of a pilot, if one screw was out of place on the
aircraft itself, the manufacturer can be litigated for financial gain.
In many cases, it is my understanding that manufacturers simply "settle"
the suits rather than defend them based upon specific lawyers
reputations for their ability to sway juries.
It's nothing but sheer extortion in the majority of the cases.

A truly unfortunate aside to this "practice" is that the phony
litigations are so frequent and so costly, there is a very good chance
that the legitimate cases where there actually is just cause for a
lawsuit are often looked at in the same jaundiced eye by the public as
the phony cases and true justice can suffer.
The lawyers can be "congratulated" for literally destroying not only GA,
but for the most part, the publics' faith and dependence in a true and
honest justice system.

--
Dudley Henriques

On Sat, 1 Dec 2007 17:07:39 -0800, C J Campbell
wrote:

The parents of Bryan Jones, a 34 year old Microsoft engineer who was
one of nine skydivers killed in the crash of a Cessna Caravan, are
suing Cessna. The Caravan was returning from Star, Idaho, to Shelton,
Washington. The parents are alleging that the Cessna Caravan was
defective and should not have been flying in icy weather. The airplane
is not certified for flight into known ice, although the plane in
question did have boots.

So, Cessna is being blamed because a pilot may have operated the plane
in direct contradiction to the aircraft flight manual and warnings in
Cessna's operating instructions.

Cessna Caravans can have known icing equipment factory and aftermarket
installed, are you sure this one wasn't so equipped?

Caravans and icing aparantly have a probematic history, going back at
least to AD 2006-01-11R1 which required that additional boots on cargo
pods and handles to make upper wing inspection easier be isntalled,
plus various things I've read but can't recall where right now about
changes to icing procedures WRT minimum airspeeds etc.

So, Cessna is being blamed because a pilot may have operated the plane
in direct contradiction to the aircraft flight manual and warnings in
Cessna's operating instructions.

I guess it makes more sense to sue a functioning company instead of a
dead pilot.. unlikely the dead pilot would be willing or able to shell
out a few million dollars as settlement.

Dudley Henriques wrote:

If this is true, you are viewing what has become one of the prime
reasons associated with the virtual end of General Aviation as at least
I knew it for the first 25 years I was involved in aviation.
It's the trial lawyers. They will go after anything and everything with
deep pockets involved in an accident. They operate in conditions like
these on the premise that REGARDLESS of the appropriate and
inappropriate actions of a pilot, if one screw was out of place on the
aircraft itself, the manufacturer can be litigated for financial gain.
In many cases, it is my understanding that manufacturers simply "settle"
the suits rather than defend them based upon specific lawyers
reputations for their ability to sway juries.
It's nothing but sheer extortion in the majority of the cases.

A truly unfortunate aside to this "practice" is that the phony
litigations are so frequent and so costly, there is a very good chance
that the legitimate cases where there actually is just cause for a
lawsuit are often looked at in the same jaundiced eye by the public as
the phony cases and true justice can suffer.
The lawyers can be "congratulated" for literally destroying not only GA,
but for the most part, the publics' faith and dependence in a true and
honest justice system.


Well stated Sir. This sort of tort-addicted mentality has to change
in this country or there will be little hope. Not enough people
realize just exactly HOW MUCH they are paying for _everything_
because of lawsuits. Most people have received a pitiful economic
education in this country (thanks to the in-bred nature of government
schools) tso they don't have a clue.

Sad... really sad.

"kontiki" wrote

Most people have received a pitiful economic
education in this country (thanks to the in-bred nature of government
schools) tso they don't have a clue.

********************************

I am sick to death of everyone placing the blame for everything on
"government schools." It is very possible to get a good education at
government schools, if you want to learn. The blame for most of the
problems with government schools is the lack of motivation of the students,
and is a failure of the parents of kids who are not motivated to learn.

What does economic education have to do with leaning about a hopelessly
screwed up justice system have to do with the price of beans in China? That
seems like it would be a government-social studies failure, if anything.

Is a government school responsible for you not being able to proof read your
posts? It must be, to write "tso they don't have a clue."

I just lost a bit of respect for you. I thought you were smarter than to
play a blame game like you showed in a post like this.
--
Jim in NC

"Dudley Henriques" wrote

It's the trial lawyers. They will go after anything and everything with
deep pockets involved in an accident. They operate in conditions like
these on the premise that REGARDLESS of the appropriate and
inappropriate actions of a pilot, if one screw was out of place on the
aircraft itself, the manufacturer can be litigated for financial gain.

No question about it, we need tort reform in the USA.

That said, people have also changed.

Lawyers need plaintiffs in order to sue, and the plaintiff is the real
villain in this scenario in my opinion. If the plaintiff wasn't willing to
initiate an action simply out of greed or the promise of easy money, the
suit would never be filed.

A lawyer is a tool, and you don't blame the hammer when you hit your thumb.

BDS

"BDS" wrote in message
. net...


No question about it, we need tort reform in the USA.

That said, people have also changed.

Lawyers need plaintiffs in order to sue, and the plaintiff is the real
villain in this scenario in my opinion. If the plaintiff wasn't willing
to
initiate an action simply out of greed or the promise of easy money, the
suit would never be filed.

A lawyer is a tool, and you don't blame the hammer when you hit your
thumb.


I don't think that is really the case. It does indeed take people seeking
recovery to start the process. But I have never seen a lawyer get involved
with a case in the interest of justice. They pick and choose who they help
base on yeild, not justice.

I am sick to death of everyone placing the blame for everything on
"government schools." It is very possible to get a good education at
government schools, if you want to learn. The blame for most of the
problems with government schools is the lack of motivation of the students,
and is a failure of the parents of kids who are not motivated to learn.

Hear, hear! Well put.

That said, there *is* a slant to the way things are taught in schools
that I find disturbing. To grossly over-simplify, this slant amounts
to an over-egalitarian "Everyone is equal, no one is better than
anyone else, everyone plays no matter how inept, business is evil but
the gummint will take care of you from cradle-to-grave" attitude that
sounds great on paper but produces kids without a work ethic or moral
compass.

Luckily, this can be easily "over-written" with proper parenting
skills. My kids are receiving an excellent public school education,
and are now at the age where they no longer need to be "de-programmed"
at the end of the school day. They can -- and often do -- sniff out
the slant on their own.

I think Kontiki was referring to this slant more than anything
specific about the educational process. Too many parents aren't aware
of (or don't care about) this subtle undercurrent in the schools that,
over time, has produced a society of lazy, sue-happy "it's not my
fault!" people.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

C J Campbell wrote:
The parents of Bryan Jones, a 34 year old Microsoft engineer who was one
of nine skydivers killed in the crash of a Cessna Caravan, are suing
Cessna. The Caravan was returning from Star, Idaho, to Shelton,
Washington. The parents are alleging that the Cessna Caravan was
defective and should not have been flying in icy weather. The airplane
is not certified for flight into known ice, although the plane in
question did have boots.

So, Cessna is being blamed because a pilot may have operated the plane
in direct contradiction to the aircraft flight manual and warnings in
Cessna's operating instructions.

Yes, I hate it when an airplane takes off on its own and does something
stupid like this. It makes the other good airplanes look bad...

Matt