Survivors of Wellstone crash victims settle for $25 million

(Red) Star Tribune ^ | August 28, 2003 | Tony Kennedy and Paul McEnroe

[Aeronaut]

Survivors of the late Sen. Paul Wellstone and five other passengers killed in an October plane crash have reached a $25 million insurance settlement with the air charter company that operated the flight.

Mike Ciresi and Roberta Walburn, who represented the families of all six passengers who died in the Oct. 25 crash, said the settlement will avert a lawsuit by their clients against Aviation Charter Inc. of Eden Prairie and its affiliated companies.

Ciresi and Walburn said their investigation determined that pilot error brought down the twin-engine Beechcraft King Air A100 as it approached Eveleth-Virginia Municipal Airport en route to a funeral that Wellstone and his group were to attend.

[xzins]

You shouldn't get paid for pilot error -- that's one of the risks of flying.

Criminal or gross negligence maybe. But,simple error? Nah.

[Aeronaut]

Criminal or gross negligence maybe. But,simple error? Nah.

Agreed, but this one went past simple pilot error.

[Liz]

It's the familiar, patented Dummycrat scam: When you're confronted with a problem, crouch down, start sobbing, and assume the position of "victim."

Playing "victim" never fails for Dumbocrats. Self-loathing Dumbos just can't feel good about themselves unless they are in the throes of "victimization" and either 1) causing victims, 2) concocting victims, 3) playing victim, 4) commiserating over victims, or 5) creating another class of victims to bleed over. Plus they get a payoff in the process.

It's either pay them off or subsidize valium and vodka to sedate them while they're sobbing themselves into oblivion.

[sticker]

I love the fact that the same leftists that were screaming at the "memorial service" are such moneygrubbers that they filed suit against the plane's owners so quickly. I wonder how much of the settlement they will give "to the people".

[Guillermo]

Betcha Terry McAwful asks them to donate this money to the DNC!!

[toddst]

. . . this one went past simple pilot error.

How so? If I understood correctly the plane brushed treetops as it approached the runway during a storm. Sounds like an error any competent pilot could make, given the circumstances.

[Tijeras_Slim]

This is Democrat America, in which nothing is official, settled, or complete until the trial lawyers get paid.

[DB]

I thought there was an icing issue on the wings.

[Fudd]

Ciresi and Walburn (the lawyers) said their investigation is continuing. They declined to comment, however, when asked whether they are considering suits against the Federal Aviation Administration and the state of Minnesota.

I guess that nothing is yet complete.

[BraveMan]

Sounds like an error any competent pilot could make, given the circumstances.

From the article . . .

In a series of findings, NTSB investigators concluded that the chartered airplane was flying dangerously slow on its final approach to the airport. The twin-turboprop King Air 100 crashed about 2 miles southeast of the runway on a cloudy morning.

In April, NTSB aerospace engineers released a detailed report that stated the plane had slowed to 76 knots, or 87 miles per hour, seconds before the crash. The plane's flight manual calls for a minimum airspeed in icing conditions of 140 knots.

[Bogey78O]

No, it was because Karl Rove paid a gremlin to sabotage it.

[xzins]

The report says: power and airspeed and hints at new pilot (whatever that might mean in the commercial aviation world.)

Criminal or gross negligence on the part of the company?

The company didn't want to fight it. That says something.

[New Horizon]

They settled, but their lawyer(s) insisted that this in no way is an admission of responsibility.

Riiiiight...

[BraveMan]

Also from the article . . .

(Moneygrubber Attorney Michael) Padden said he intends to file a wrongful death suit against (pilot) Conry's estate on behalf of Michael Guess' family. He said that Guess' estate was paid $60,000 in a workers' compensation settlement and that he believes Conry's estate received a similar amount.

I guess we can chuck out the window sympathy for the family of the deceased pilot when there is more money to be had . . .

[Blood of Tyrants]

en route to a funeral that Wellstone and his group were to attend.

Little did they know that the funeral was their own.

[xzins]

At a minimum...it surely meant that the company did NOT believe it had a slam-dunk case.

They at least thought they could lose.

So they settled.

[Aeronaut]

Little did they know that the funeral was their own.

Yeah, but don't the dems know how to put the fun in funeral!

[RGSpincich]

Now they can reimburse the DNC for the "memorial". Useless freakin Wellstone kids.

[1Old Pro]

One tragedy follows another.