Wednesday, June 3, 2020
Defense Verdict
Michael
McQuillen, John Kelly, Nicholas
Bart, and Christopher Raistrick
of Adler Murphy & McQuillen LLP
successfully defended an autopilot manufacturer in a wrongful
death action arising out of an airplane crash near Wheeling, West
Virginia.
On July 18, 2004, a Piper Saratoga crashed into a wooded area
during its approach to the Wheeling Ohio County Airport. The pilot
and four passengers received fatal
injuries. The pilot's estate
brought a wrongful death action alleging that design defects in the
autopilot caused the ailerons to jam, ultimately resulting in the
crash. Defendant argued that the
autopilot was not defectively designed and played no role in the
crash. It further
contended that the accident was the result of pilot error when the
pilot lost situational awareness after encountering dark, nighttime
conditions which caused him to lose control of the
aircraft.
After a two-week trial, the jury returned a defense verdict
on behalf of the defendant. The
pilot's estate sought over $39 million in compensatory
damages. The jury deliberated for
less than two hours.
The trial proceeded before
Judge Lorna E. Propes in the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois
from October 24th to November 7th.