Have you been sued as a GA pilot?

Jimmy cooper said:
You insist on going off on an unrelated tangent! We are not speaking of auto accidents at all. They do not enter the discussion! We are speaking of GA aircraft accidents and how often people are sued as a result of them. We know that GA fatalities far exceed airline fatalities and usually, usually, if the pilot, dead or alive is insured a passenger or their relatives will sue if injury or death occurs. Try to keep focused on what the op brought up ! It's also easy to look up plus how often survivors sue aircraft manufactures for real or imagined sins. This has put most U.S. Aircraft manufacturers out of business!
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You're the one trying to distract there Jimbo. The original question was asking if anyone here had been sued as a GA pilot. As you can see.....not many.

GA doesn't necessarily get sued any more than any operation. But GA accidents (largely because they happen less frequently) get much more press coverage than a typical car accident with fatalities.
 
Fearless Tower said:
You're the one trying to distract there Jimbo. The original question was asking if anyone here had been sued as a GA pilot. As you can see.....not many.

GA doesn't necessarily get sued any more than any operation. But GA accidents (largely because they happen less frequently) get much more press coverage than a typical car accident with fatalities.
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Anyone here? This is a small segment of all GA pilots. Not representative of what's happening. Airplanes are a press magnet,( the eternal mystery of flight and all that nonsense) so of course they are reported more often than average auto accident especially if they crash in ones backyard or into the roof of a house. On top of this, many GA accidents are caused by low time bumbling pilots And are red meat for a lawyer . The accident in Gaithersburg, for instance, should prove to be a lawyers all skate.
 
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I was under the impression that the original question was asked as the writer worried if he MIGHTY be sued if he was involved , as pic, in a serious airplane accident. The answer is of course YES! It's a hypothetical anyway so it's become boring. Later.
 
Pilots are sometimes named in suits, but they aren't the deep pockets. The manufacturer of the aircraft or the airport or some part or sometimes even the contract tower operator or the FAA are more attractive targets. If you want to know the stories, you can often find them on the lawyers sites. They're proud of their successes.
 
flyingron said:
Pilots are sometimes named in suits, but they aren't the deep pockets. The manufacturer of the aircraft or the airport or some part or sometimes even the contract tower operator or the FAA are more attractive targets. If you want to know the stories, you can often find them on the lawyers sites. They're proud of their successes.
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Yep. How many times have we seen posts on this site bemoaning the inability to get higher insurance limits for passengers? Plaintiff's attorneys want cash. Insurance companies will pay judgments. Private individuals, not so much. Plaintiff's attorneys want to sue entities with lots of insurance. Pilots don't have much, relatively speaking. Aviation cases are expensive, both in terms of expert fees, and in terms of lawyers educating themselves about the subject of aviation, not to mention the amount of time attorney time prosecuting them. Good plaintiff's attorneys are not stupid. It's like what John Dillinger said about why he robbed banks: it's where the money is.
 
JimNtexas said:
One question I would like to ask is:

"If you were killed while PIC of general aviation airplane, was your estate and/or family sued?"
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Back from the dead to answer your question... :confused: :eek:

I can recall one CFI who was sued. It was so long ago I don't remember the details. I think he and a student were practicing emergencies but they got too low and hit powerlines. I can remember him being bitter at lawyers and the fact that he was having his pay garnished. I don't know whatever happened to him.
 
JimNtexas said:
One question I would like to ask is:

"If you were killed while PIC of general aviation airplane, was your estate and/or family sued?"
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:rofl::rofl::rofl: Let me go breathe on a mirror to see if I died recently....
 
Everybody sues Parker-Hannifin just because.

John Denver's widow sued Aircraft Spruce for selling the homebuilder the fuel valve he installed in a place not on the plans. Prolly because the homebuilder wasn't rich enoguh.

Bob Collins' widow sued the student's flight school and the ATC contractor for letting him run into the other plane after he gave his position wrong.

Thurman Munson's widow sued the flight instructor who was merely a passenger for letting him land his Citation without flaps.
 
I would imagine it depends on how deep the pockets are and/or if
the assets are exempt. If you have insurance .. the odds go up.

RT
 
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