Posted on 01/16/2004 6:17:06 PM PST by Hillarys Gate Cult
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) - A jury found an airplane parts manufacturer negligent in the 2000 plane crash that killed Gov. Mel Carnahan and his son, and awarded their family $4 million.
The Carnahan family's attorney argued that a pair of vacuum pumps made by Parker Hannifin Corp. failed, causing the plane to crash. Killed were pilot Randy Carnahan, his father and Chris Sifford, a longtime aide to the governor.
The jury awarded compensatory damages of $3 million for Mel Carnahan and $1 million for Randy Carnahan. The jury did not award any punitive damages.
``Justice was served today,'' said Mel Carnahan's widow, Jean Carnahan. ``My son was found not responsible for the death of my husband.''
Attorneys for Parker Hannifin, based in Cleveland, argued that the vacuum pumps did not fail, and blamed the crash on the failure of the pilot's attitude indicator. The indicator tells a pilot whether the plane is banking and whether the nose is high or low. That failure, on a rainy night, caused Randy Carnahan to become disoriented, the company said.
The Carnahans' attorney, Gary Robb, had asked the jury to consider awarding the family $100 million.
Lorrie Paul Crum, spokeswoman for Parker Hannifin, said the company did not plan an appeal.
``It's clear to us that this was a compromise verdict,'' Crum said. ``We came here not for money but to vindicate Parker's good name, and we feel that's been accomplished with this verdict.''
The family has settled with several other defendants for a combined total of more than $1 million. Crum said the amount that Parker Hannifin has to pay the Carnahans will be reduced from $4 million by the amount the other companies have already paid. She estimated that would be between $2.6 million and $2.8 million.
Carnahan, a Democrat, was killed Oct. 16, 2000, en route to a campaign appearance during his race for the U.S. Senate seat then held by Republican John Ashcroft, now U.S. attorney general.
Carnahan remained on the ballot and posthumously won the election. His Senate seat was filled by Jean Carnahan until the 2002 election.
During the trial, Robb told jurors that federal investigators found that Parker Hannifin vacuum pumps failed in 20 other plane crashes, killing 46 people, between 1981 to 1998. He said the company knew the pumps could fail but continued to make them until shortly after the Carnahan crash.
The company sent warnings to install a backup system for the vacuum pumps and said it frequently urged the Federal Aviation Administration to make the backup systems mandatory, but the government agency declined to do so.
Parker Hannifin's attorney, Mitchel Kallet, told jurors that a federal investigation found the pumps were probably working at the time of the crash but that one attitude indicator was not
If he still had the DG, you're right, there's no excuse since you can fly on the DG and altimeter without too much skill. On the other hand, sometimes the AI goes and you may not realize it, and believe in it 'til it's too late.
Most planes only have one set of instruments, but larger ones have two sets with separate power sources. There is a bit of redundancy, though- most aircraft use a vacuum pump to drive the attitude and heading indicators and electric power for the turn co-ordinator. I don't know the FAA standards but in Canada even VFR pilots are required to train for instrument flight without the attitude indicator; it's exhausting but not impossible. My own take is that unless there was a compelling reason (such as low fuel) to make that approach he should have flown to some alternate airport where visibility was better.
I don't think I'd go that far, however the weather that night was incredibly foggy. I remember it well, because then Governor Bush was landing in St. Louis to participate in the last debate against Albore. And we were concerned about his arrival. When I got home, and turned on the TV, I learned that that there was a plane crash. However there was a thread on FR, where I first discovered that Mel Carnahan might have been on it. The thread was from freepers in Kansas City, and we coordinated local news from both ends of the state from there. I wish I could find that thread.....
For the non-aviators out there, use of an attitude indicator not located in the center of the pilot's control panel is very apt to cause a bad case of vertigo. Depending on the pilot's experience level, and the lateral stability of the aircraft (the tendency to of the airplane to stay wings level) this can be a big problem.
It is even possible in some instances for pilots who are experiencing vertigo to input the opposite control inputs of what they want to do.
This airplane is a twin and so would have had vacuum pumps on both engines. It is unlikely that both would fail at the same time. The NTSB said they were working.
Part of IFR training is to fly "partial panel". I had to do that as part of my training. What that means is flying with the vacuum instruments not working.
I had to make an IFR approach to minimums on partial panel.
It is difficult but if you have practiced it, it can be done.
One of the requirements to remain current for IFR is making 6 approaches in the last 6 months. A pilot should make practice approaches using partial panel as part of his normal routine.
This appears that he did get disoriented. That is easy to do if you haven't practiced. The jury felt sorry for them and gave them some money.
It was most likely just like John Kennedy Jr. He was flying a plane that was more than he could safely handle under the circumstances.
Vacuum pumps are notorious for failing at the worst possible times.
For that reason, the backup instruments are electrically powered or not powered at all. The (electrically-powered) Turn Coordinator, magnetic compass, and airspeed indicator give you enough information to keep the plane flying straight and level in an emergency. "Needle, ball, and airspeed"
I'm going all electric on my Lancair (when I can afford it), with a backup battery. Vacuum pumps are simply too unreliable.
Ever read Bob Nuckoll's Aeroelectric Connection?
Vacuum pumps are notoriously unreliable, but the likelihood of two of them failing simultaneously is almost beyond comprehension.
OTOH, the fact that they were rotatating upon impact means only that the drive gear had not failed. Normally, what fails in those babies are the rotors. The drive gears never fail. Had a rotor failed, it would have left marks on the housing, too.
Who the hell was the defense attorney, anyway? Obviously, he was a dumb $hit (or bought off).
The fact that the pilot was attempting to use the right-side AI indicates that he was unable or unwilling to use the needle-ball-airspeed method on the gages right in front of him.
Being a politician's son, he probably thought that recurrent training on the basics was for the "little people".
It also occurs to me that there is a vacuum-regulator associated with each of these pumps. Those have a foam filter ring on them that can become clogged.
Criminal 18F,
Nice job of compiling the facts.
On single engine airplanes such as the T210, they may be equipped with two separate vacuum pumps connected that way also.
Anyone who does a lot of IFR will put in an electric attitude indicator on the left panel for a backup.
After reading the comments about his log book, it is obvious he was over his head.
I would not ride with a pilot who has not logged at least practice IFR in the last month.
Could you go without driving a car for 6 months and then jump into LosAngeles traffic in a race car?
An airplane does not decend unless power is reduced, the trim is changed, or it goes into a fairly steep turn. An airplane does not decend without the pilot knowing about it except when they are disoriented. (banking steeply and starting a spiral)
I don't think that was a commercial airplane. Normally that kind of airplane is private or corporate.
Anyway it was the senator's son who was flying. From the comments about his log book, he did not fly professionally.
Private pilots flying twins have the worst record because they do not practice enough and aren't flying enough to stay sharp.
One of the other reasons private twins have such a bad safety record is the engine-out problem and the danger of a spin. Many pilots believe that an engine-out in a single is less dangerous than in a twin. It's counter-intuitive, of course, but at least you don't have to fight the yaw in a single. Of course, at night it's a different matter......
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