His website tells of an illustrious legal career spanning decades.  Pictured next to an antique race car, Terry O’Reilly boasts that he is “one of the most distinguished and successful trial lawyers” in the entire United States. O’Reilly lists many awards he claims to have received and explains that “I have the largest number of

Families of those involved in five different general aviation crashes and their lawyer are suing the NTSB, charging it with obstruction of justice.  The suit claims that the NTSB withheld from the families information concerning each of the crashes in violation of the Freedom of Information Act.

I’ve commented before about how the NTSB’s “

The Robinson R66’s safety record to date is troubling.  The aircraft did not go into production until 2010 and the fleet is very small.  Yet a total of five R66 helicopters have already crashed, killing 11:

  • July 12, 2011, Flandes, Colombia, pilot and passenger killed;Robinson R66
  • October 1, 2011, near Philip, South Dakota, pilot killed;

A jury in Washington state handed down a $26 million verdict against Avco Lycoming as a result of a fatal Cessna 172 crash that killed three people in 2008.  The  jury’s award included $6 million in punitive damages, designed to punish Lycoming for consciously disregarding the safety of the flying public.

It’s the second time a jury has

Bonanza N7472N crashed in December 2008 after its engine failed in flight. The engine failed because the crankshaft broke. The 25 year-old pilot was killed in the forced landing attempt. The pilot’s widow sued Continental Motors, alleging that the crankshaft, which was only 58 hours old, was defective. This week, the jury sided with Continental.Beech Bonanza After Crankshaft Failure

The plaintiff brought

The Minnesota Supreme Court has now spoken, bringing to an end the litigation against Cirrus for its alleged failure to train pilot Gary Prokop.

Prokop flew his new Cirrus SR22 into conditions of poor visibility and crashed, killing himself and his passenger.  The passenger’s family sued Cirrus, as will as Prokop’s estate, claiming that Cirrus