Posted on 03/01/2007 6:00:57 PM PST by buccaneer81
Dentist to Affluent Sues Lidle Estate By SAMUEL MAULL
NEW YORK (AP) - A dentist to the rich and famous has filed a $7 million lawsuit against the estate of late New York Yankees pitcher Cory Lidle, claiming his home was destroyed when the ballplayer's small airplane crashed into his apartment building.
Dr. Lawrence Rosenthal says in court papers that after Lidle's Cirrus SR-20 aircraft crashed into the Manhattan building where he lived with his wife and teenage son, they had to vacate their 43rd-floor apartment.
Rosenthal, whose patients include Donald Trump, Bruce Springsteen and Catherine Zeta-Jones, said his apartment sustained "severe damage, including broken windows, smoke damage, loose bricks and extensive other damage" that forced them out.
The plane, with Lidle and flight instructor Tyler Stanger aboard, hit the Upper East Side building on the 30th floor, 13 floors below Rosenthal's apartment, on Oct 11. Lidle, 34, and Stanger, 26, were killed in the crash.
The two had taken a midday flight past the Statue of Liberty and north up the East River. They apparently had trouble when they tried to turn and head south.
The National Transportation Safety Board investigated, but its report said it reached no final conclusions about the cause of the accident, nor did the agency's report say who was at the controls when the airplane crashed.
Rosenthal's lawyer, David Jaroslawicz, said Thursday that "everything was destroyed" in his client's home and the family has been renting while waiting to return. He said their home is actually three apartments joined to make one apartment that is worth "several million dollars."
Rosenthal's lawsuit, filed Wednesday in Manhattan state Supreme Court, names Lidle's wife, Melanie Lidle, as the defendant in her capacity as administratrix of her late husband's estate.
A lawyer for her, Robert N. Clarke Jr., issued a statement saying attorneys for the Lidle and Stanger families had filed wrongful-death lawsuits against Cirrus Design Corp., maker of the airplane, in California. He said the lawsuits allege product liability, negligence and other complaints.
A spokeswoman for Cirrus Design didn't immediately return messages left on her office phone and cell phone on Thursday.
Rosenthal was in the news in January, when he sued best-selling dating-book author Ellen Fein for $5 million after she called him a quack on the LyingDentist.com and BadDentist.com Web sites. She accused him of ruining her mouth.
The lawsuit accused Fein, author of "The Rules," of defamation, harassment and extortion.
Fein's lawyer, Ann McGrane, said she planned to file a motion to dismiss Rosenthal's lawsuit, and she said she was sure it would be granted.
Because they are a big bad company engaged in free enterprise, and they have money.
If Mr. Lidle had liability insurance, such insurance would serve to cover those costs that result from him (or his heirs) being sued. If neither he nor his heirs get sued, his insurance has no obligation to pay anything.
Are you a "Seinfeld" fan?
Dentist: "You're an Anti-Dentite!"
And that is why private aircraft in this country cost twice as much as they should.
Well, they're sueing "his" estate. Is that not the same as "him?"
Lidle and Stanger families had filed wrongful-death lawsuits against Cirrus Design Corp., maker of the airplane, in California
What goes around comes around.
The aircraft had a parachute installed, that Lidle did not deploy when he got into trouble. It costs about ten grand to pull that handle, once you buy a new 'chute and repair the damage.
So Lidle didn't choose to use the extraordinary safety equipment provided by the manufacturer, and Cirrus Design is still screwed.
ML/NJ (IFR Rated, Private Pilot)
Yikes. I stopped reading too soon. But I still think Dr. Larry is a p**ck.
I'm not an anti-dentite! Haha! :-)
No kidding. If I rear end you, so am I. That's why I have insurance.
LOL!!
Aha! You're the anti-Dentite! LOL!
D'oh!
I see what you're saying, but there's no guarantee it would have prevented a crash in an urban wind tunnel environment.
There is a crash at 180 kts, or a crash at 20 kts.
It was just one of the compounded errors that Lidle made. Not to single out Lidle, particularly. Whenever you read about one of these crashes, it seems like it is always the result of a series of stupid mistakes spanning from when the pilot went to bed the night before right up to the moment of impact.
But at no point was one of those mistakes made by Cirrus Design. This guy would have crashed anybody else's aircraft just as hard.
Ok, since the plane hit thirteen floors below the good doctors apartment, show me pictures of the damage.
Are you saying the problem occurred somewhere between the stick and the seat?
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