ICON Aircraft hired away from Ford Motor Company a superstar PhD to lead its engineering department. When Cagri Sever showed up at ICON’s facility in Vacaville, the first thing ICON did was send him off on a “demonstration” flight with the company’s chief pilot, Jon Karkow. Karkow flew to
Lake Berryessa, a virtual stone’s throw from the ICON factory. Once there, Karkow couldn’t resist the urge to engage is some low level maneuvering over the water. Minutes after takeoff, Karkow crashed onto the shore, leaving both of them dead.Continue Reading Family Sues ICON for Fatal A5 Crash
Mike Danko
Montreal Convention Permits Passenger to Recover for Fear of Infection
By Mike Danko on
Plaintiff was on a flight from Abu Dhabi to Chicago. She placed her hand into the seatback pocket, and was unexpectedly stuck with a hypodermic needle that lay within.
Continue Reading Montreal Convention Permits Passenger to Recover for Fear of Infection
Paramedic’s Family Out of Court in Skylife HEMS Crash
By Mike Danko on
The NTSB hasn’t yet issued its report on the fatal Skylife air ambulance crash in December 2015. But a Fresno judge has ruled that regardless of the cause, the family of one of the paramedics on board will not be allowed to sue either the operator of the helicopter (Rogers Helicopter) or the helicopter’s…
Monica Ribbeck Kelly Sued For Malpractice, Leaves The Country
By Mike Danko on
Posted in Airlines
Aviation journalist Christine Negroni reports in Forbes that Monica Ribbeck Kelly, the lawyer who instituted “frivolous” legal proceedings after Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 went missing, has herself disappeared. Not only was the Illinois Ethics Committee after Kelly, but she was being sued by victims of an airline disaster in China for promising to file…
Discretionary Function Exception to the Federal Tort Claims Act
By Mike Danko on
If the United States Government is responsible for an accident, it can be sued just like any other wrongdoer under the Federal Tort Claims Act. But there’s an important exception — the federal government cannot be sued for bad decisions that the government left to the federal employee’s best judgment. The "Discretionary Function Exception"…
New Zealand Asks Whether Robinson Helicopters Are Simply Too Dangerous
By Mike Danko on
Posted in Helicopters
Robinson helicopters are popular in New Zealand. But while they make up only 35% of New Zealand’s helicopter fleet, they account for 64% of all of New Zealand’s fatal accidents.
Why?
Some say the helicopter is especially prone to "mast bumping," a phenomenon where the rotor head tilts to such a degree that the…
Weight and Balance Issues in Riverside Cessna Crash?
By Mike Danko on
Posted in Accident Investigations, General Aviation
The Cessna T310Q crashed shortly after takeoff. For clues into the cause of the crash, the press has focused on the fact that the pilot, Nouri Hijazi, had difficulty getting the engines started.
But what one witness had to say suggests that the plane was improperly loaded – specifically, it had too much weight in…
FAA Turns Over Increasing Inspection Authority to Manufacturers
By Mike Danko on
Four years ago, the NTSB questioned whether manufactures like Boeing should be allowed to self-certify that their aircraft designs meet FAA requirements. The NTSB suggested that “self-certification” may have contributed to the battery fires that were being experienced on Boeing’s 787s. After all, it’s the FAA’s job to make an independent determination that an aircraft…
Bogus Airplane Parts and a Cessna 182 Crash
By Mike Danko on
A courageous client speaks to Stephen Stock about the risks to the flying public.
Miracle on the Hudson Immersive Video
By Mike Danko on
It was seven years ago that Kas Osterbuhr put together a nearly courtroom-ready reconstruction animation of Flight 1549. At the time, there really was nothing else like it. With the movie coming out, Kas went back and updated his work. Next worst thing to being there.