This blog presents Metropolitan Engineering Consulting & Forensics (MEC&F) claim management and claim investigation analyses of some of the typical claims we handle
The Texas Department of Public Safety released the
name of a teenager killed in an ATV accident. The crash happened around
3am Saturday on CR 1114 at the intersection of CR 1115 in Newton
County. This location is about 10 miles southwest of Brookeland.
DPS
says the driver of the 2009 Polaris Ranger, ATV, Stevie Ray Hergert, 16, of Nederland, was
pronounced dead at the scene by Justice of the Peace Brenda Smith.
Authorities say Hergert lost control and the ATV flipped. She was
ejected and suffered fatal head injuries as she was not wearing a helmet.
Three girls were injured when
an inflatable collided with a boat at Ginger Woods, a private lake
southwest of Valley, Friday night.
A woman operating the boat towing the inflatable
made an evasive action to avoid colliding with a second boat that had a
skier down in the water. The move caused the inflatable to travel out
of the towing boat's wake and collide with the side of the downed
skier's boat around 7:45 p.m.
Two 13-year-old girls and one 12-year-old girl
were riding on the inflatable. One of the 13-year-olds was taken by
medical helicopter to Nebraska Medicine in Omaha. The other two victims
were taken to Nebraska Medicine by ambulance.
Their injuries included broken bones and internal
injuries not considered to be life threatening. All three girls were
wearing life jackets.
The occupants of both boats and the skier were not hurt.
Dive teams are continuing their search on
Lake St. Clair this morning for a man believed to have possibly drowned
following a fall from a boat.
Keith Rowley, the Chief of the Southfield Fire Department, has been
missing since Friday evening following reports of him going overboard.
Deputies tried to locate Rowley unsuccessfully throughout the evening. Three other people were aboard the boat including one Troy man who
was handcuffed and arrested on an Operating a Watercraft While
Intoxicated charge.
The Macomb County Sheriff’s Office Dive Team will continue their search this morning at approximately 7:00 am.
Darrell Sapp/Post-Gazette There are more than 70 railroad bridges in Allegheny County.
By Karen Langley / Post-Gazette Harrisburg Bureau
July 30, 2015 HARRISBURG, PA
U.S. Sen. Bob Casey on Thursday called for increasing the number of federal rail bridge inspectors, saying the government has too few workers overseeing the safety of more than 70,000 bridges in the United States.
Mr. Casey, a Democrat, told reporters on a conference call that the
Federal Railroad Administration has eight employees responsible for the
safety of the nation’s rail bridges. With train derailments in the news
in recent years, he said there should be more inspectors assigned to
rail bridges.
“They’re charged with making sure that these train bridges are safe,
and the investment we’ve made in their work is inadequate,” Mr. Casey
said. “You don’t have to be an expert in rail safety or engineering ...
to know that eight for 70,000 isn’t nearly enough.”
Mr. Casey is proposing nearly doubling the number of bridge specialists.
The Federal Railroad Administration is evaluating its bridge
management program to determine if more can be done with its current
resources, communications director Matthew Lehner said. The 2008 federal
Rail Safety Improvement Act instructed railroads to build bridge
management programs and the FRA to audit those programs, he said.
“We are carrying out those instructions,” Mr. Lehner said. “With more
resources from Congress, FRA could have a more robust program.”
The train company CSX, which has about 2,000 miles of tracks in
Pennsylvania, will invest more than $2.5 billion this year in the safety
and adequacy of its infrastructure, including in its bridge management
system, spokesman Rob Doolittle said.
The bridge management system requires that each of the company’s
bridges receive a complete inspection at least once a year, and tracks
crossing the bridges receive frequent visual inspections, he said.
“Safety is CSX’s highest priority, and CSX appreciates Sen. Casey’s
continued focus on these important issues,” Mr. Doolittle said.
Dave Pidgeon, spokesman for Norfolk Southern Corp., said rail
transportation is safe and getting safer. Norfolk Southern is spending
$1.3 billion this year on its infrastructure, including tracks and
bridges, he said. He said the company employs 4,700 people in
Pennsylvania.
“When we talk about safety, it’s not just a good business practice,” he said. “It’s personal, too.”
Ed Greenberg, spokesman for the Association of American Railroads,
said that freight railroads follow strict federal and industry standards
in all areas of train operations, including through visual and
high-tech inspections of tracks and bridges.
“Freight railroads are performing more inspections than required by
federal regulations, and at any point during the day or night, the
nation’s rail system is being inspected, undergoing maintenance or being
upgraded,” he said.
Gov. Tom Wolf supports Mr. Casey’s proposal, spokeswoman Beth Melena
said. In April, the governor’s office announced that Mr. Wolf had hired a
rail expert to focus on the safety of trains transporting crude oil
through Pennsylvania. The governor has also written to President Barack
Obama to ask for the federal government’s help in ensuring the safety of
transporting oil by train.
The
charred remains of railroad cars after an oil tanker train derailed and
exploded Monday, Dec. 30, 2013, west of Casselton, N.D. The cars have
been moved from the site of the crash to a nearby field. (Dave Wallis /
Forum News Service)
By Mike Nowatzki at 9:05 p.m.
BISMARCK, ND
North Dakota regulators are expected to
sign a deal with the Federal Railroad Administration on Wednesday that
will allow the state to launch a rail safety program funded by the
Legislature and proposed after a fiery oil train derailment near
Casselton in 2013.
The
agreement will permit two rail safety inspectors employed by the North
Dakota Public Service Commission to work with the FRA on track and
mechanical inspections.
Thirty states have rail inspection programs to supplement the federal program, including neighboring Minnesota and Montana.
Commission
chairwoman Julie Fedorchak said the advantage of a state-run program is
that North Dakota’s inspectors will focus only on in-state track and
can’t be pulled away to other states.
“It’s a big deal,” she said.
About
52 percent of the oil shipped in May from the Williston Basin went by
rail, the state Pipeline Authority reported this month. Rail traffic
increased 233 percent in North Dakota from 2005 to 2012 and has
continued to climb since then, Fedorchak said, citing FRA data.
“That
just increases the wear and tear on the track, and a large part of the
increase is hazardous materials,” she said. “We want to have these folks
out inspecting and finding problems before they cause an accident.”
State
lawmakers voted in April to spend $523,345 on the pilot program for
2015-17, with the intent of continuing it in 2017-19. The money will
come from an excise tax railroads pay on diesel fuel.
The
three-member PSC and Gov. Jack Dalrymple originally proposed two
full-time inspectors and a rail safety manager in the agency’s budget.
The final budget provided $253,345 for a full-time permanent inspector,
$70,000 for related operating expenses and $200,000 for a temporary
full-time inspector whose job the Legislature will have to reapprove in
2017.
Fedorchak said she hopes to extend an offer this
week to an applicant for the permanent job. The temporary job drew fewer
applicants, but she also hopes to fill that position soon.
“As we knew they would be, they’re more hesitant to leave a job for a temporary job,” she said.
Under
the agreement, the FRA will pay for classroom training for the state
inspectors, who must be certified to participate in investigative and
surveillance activities. Depending on their experience level, the state
inspectors could achieve certification in as little as six months,
Fedorchak said.
As of May, the FRA had 44 rail safety
inspectors and five vacancies in its eight-state region that includes
North Dakota, South Dakota and Montana, FRA spokesman Mike Booth said.
Nine of those inspectors were located in North Dakota, but they may serve multiple states and even other regions.
“Most
of the focus right now is in North Dakota, so chances are we’re pulling
people from the outside in, rather than the other way around,” Booth
said.
Booth said the FRA would welcome North Dakota’s
state safety program, which he called a “force multiplier” and “an
essential piece of our national rail safety program.”
Commissioner
Brian Kalk said he supports the agreement, calling it “a big step.” But
he doesn’t want people to get a false sense of security, as the state
still needs additional oil pipelines and investment by railroads to
improve safety, he said.
“This is not the silver bullet here. This is one of several important steps that have to happen,” he said.
Commissioner
Randy Christmann said he had the PSC’s legal counsel checking on one
part of the agreement to ensure it doesn’t commit the state to services
beyond what’s budgeted.
“Assuming that that’s all OK, I intend to vote for it,” he said.
Fedorchak said the PSC knows that lawmakers – who must reauthorize funding for the program in 2017 – will be watching closely.
“We’re
going to be keeping really close track of the benefits of having our
inspectors out on the road examining these track and mechanical issues
and working with the railroads to improve their safety performance,” she
said.
BP’s Andrew Platform in the North Sea (For illustration purposes)The Offshore Installations (Offshore Safety Directive)
(Safety Case etc.) Regulations 2015 (SCR 2015) came into force on July
19, 2015. They are the UK’s response to the EU’s Offshore Directive
which was adopted in June 2013.
Britain’s Health and Safety Executive (HSE) published a new guide to
help offshore oil and gas operators to adhere to the regulatory
requirements introduced by SCR 2015.
HSE explained that the document provides an explanation of the
regulatory provisions in SCR 2015 and is addressed to those with duties,
such as licensees, installation operators, installation owners, well
operators and others involved with offshore activities.
SRC 2105 applies to oil and gas operations in external waters, that
is, the territorial sea adjacent to Great Britain and any designated
area within the United Kingdom continental shelf (UKCS). They replace
the Offshore Installations (Safety Case) Regulations 2005 (SCR 2005) in
these waters, subject to certain transitional arrangements.
The primary aim of SCR 2015 is to reduce the risks from major
accident hazards to the health and safety of the workforce employed on
offshore installations or in connected activities. Furthermore, the
Regulations also aim to increase the protection of the marine
environment and coastal economies against pollution and ensure improved
response mechanisms in the event of such an incident.
Offshore Safety Directive Regulator
The Directive also required the creation of an offshore competent
authority and the UK’s Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC)
and HSE, working in partnership, have established the Offshore Safety
Directive Regulator (OSDR). The competent authority is governed by a
senior oversight board which will agree implementation arrangements, set
the strategic direction and agree decisions for the competent
authority.
Requirements to submit safety cases
According to the HSE, a safety case is a document that gives
confidence to operators, owners, workers and the competent authority
that the dutyholder has the ability and means to manage and control
major accident hazards effectively. Safety cases under SCR 2015 are required for all installations
operating, or to be operated, in external waters. It is an offence to
operate an installation in external waters without a safety case that
has been accepted by the competent authority.
Different requirements apply to installations used for producing oil
and gas compared to those used for other purposes, such as drilling,
exploration or providing accommodation. For new production installations
to be established offshore, operators must send a notification to the
competent authority at the early design stage.
Once given, the competent authority’s acceptance of a safety case may last as long as the installation to which it applies.
No safety cases for offshore pipelines
SCR 2015 does not require safety cases for offshore pipelines.
However, the Regulations do require the installation safety case to
address all risks arising from pipelines connected to the installation
and any other pipelines with the potential to cause a major accident on
the installation.
New regulations to protect workers and environment
According to the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health
(IOSH), a body for individuals with a professional involvement in
occupational safety and health, revised offshore safety case regulations
in the UK will help to safeguard both workers and the environment.
Allison Laws, Chair of the Offshore Group at IOSH, said: “The new regulations will help to protect thousands of workers in the offshore industry. “It is vital that all operators follow the regulations and they
will feel the benefits of doing so. After all, safety and health is an
investment, not a cost.”
Ian Waldram, a member of the IOSH Offshore Group committee, said it was important operators familiarise themselves with the changes.
He said: “Whilst the agreed intention was to minimise changes to
the 2005 UK legislation, judged by many as a ‘best in class’ regulatory
regime, there are in fact a significant number of changes – some small,
others more significant.” Offshore Energy Today Staff
A
car ferry with 71 passengers and 23 crew members aboard caught fire off
Japan’s northernmost main island of Hokkaido on Friday, leaving one
crew member missing while everyone else evacuated in lifeboats, the
Japan Coast Guard said.
The 11,401-ton Sunflower Daisetsu caught fire in the Pacific Ocean
about 55km off Tomakomai port in southern Hokkaido at around 5.15pm,
coast guard officials said.
Kunihiko Orita, a 44-year-old junior officer, was unaccounted for as
he lost contact with other crew members after rushing to extinguish the
fire. He was tasked with taking charge of on-site fire fighting
operations in the event of a fire aboard, according to MOL Ferry.
Captain Mikiro Sakaue, 58, had remained on the ferry to communicate
with rescue vessels but later agreed to evacuate, according to the
officials. Three commercial ships and two patrol boats came to rescue
the evacuating passengers and crew and took them to Tomakomai port.
At a press conference at its Tokyo head office, MOL Ferry apologised
for the accident. A company official said the safety of the 93
passengers and crew members had been confirmed.
The fire broke out in a truck being transported by the ferry, which
left Ooarai port in Ibaraki Prefecture, northeast of Tokyo, at 1.45am,
and was to arrive at Tomakomai at 7.45pm, according to the coast guard
and MOL Ferry.
“I wasn’t afraid until I boarded a life raft, but just as I was
getting on, the outer walls of the ferry tumbled down,” said Takuya
Ozawa, 24, a passenger from Hokkaido’s capital city of Sapporo.
As sprinklers failed to put out the fire, a coast guard fireboat
sprayed water on the ferry to bring it under control. A coast guard
helicopter flew over the ferry around 7.20pm and confirmed smoke coming
from the starboard, but no flames were seen, according to the coast
guard.
The seven-deck ferry was built in 2001 and is authorized to carry up to 154 people, 62 cars and 150 large trucks.
It was carrying 68 vehicles and 100 cargo units for trailer trucks.
The accident prompted the transport ministry to initiate an
extraordinary audit of MOL Ferry’s offices. The Transport Safety Board
decided to send five accident investigators on Saturday.
///--------------///
Written by
Shubhajyoti
The
"Sun Flower Daisetsu" issued a distress signal on July 31, 2015, at
5.32 p.m. off the coast of Honshu, reporting a fire on board.
The fire
started on a cargo deck in one of the trucks and got out of control off
the coast of the northernmost island Hokkaido.
The ferry with 71
passengers and 23 crew on board was en route from Tokyo to Tomakomai
port, Hokkaido.
She was about 30 miles off the eastern coast of Honshu.
15 patrol boats and 5 aircraft were sent to the Ferry. The passengers,
all wearing lifejackets, were gathered on the deck, awaiting the arrival
of rescue Teams.
All passengers and crew were safely evacuated, no
injures reported. One crew member went missing.
There were about 160
vehicles on board, mostly trucks.
The Coast Guard medically evacuated a 35-year-old woman from a
cruise ship approximately 300 miles south of Point Loma, San Diego,
Friday.
At approximately 2 p.m., Friday, watchstanders at Coast Guard Sector
San Diego received a request for assistance from the crew of the cruise
ship Carnival Miracle that a 35-year-old female passenger was
experiencing acute abdominal pain.
The 11th Coast Guard District’s flight surgeon, in Alameda,
California, recommended that the patient be medically evacuated and
taken to a hospital for emergency care.
Two Sector San Diego MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crews launched, arrived
on scene, and safely hoisted the woman. Two Jayhawks were flown on this
case due to the distance from shore. One helicopter conducted the hoist
and the other provided cover for safety.
The Jayhawk crews returned to Sector San Diego at approximately 7 p.m., where she was transferred to awaiting EMS.
She was taken to UCSD Medical Center, Hillcrest, in San Diego. Her condition is unknown.
Weather on scene was 24-knot winds and waves were four-to-six feet.
A Coast Guard aircrew from Air Station Savannah work to rescue a mother
and daughter off the coast go St. Simons Island, Ga., July 31, 2015.
Both the mother and daughter involved in the rescue were wearing
lifejackets, giving Coast Guard crews valuable time to location and
rescue them. U.S. Coast Guard photo.
A
young woman sits on the hull of a capsized vessel as her mother is
hoisted into a Coast Guard helicopter off the coast of St. Simons
Island, Ga., July 31, 2015. (U.S. Coast Guard photo)
August 1st, 2015
BRUNSWICK, Ga. —
The Coast Guard rescued a mother and daughter off
the coast of St. Simons Island after their vessel capsized, Friday.
At approximately 4 p.m., Friday, watchstanders at Coast Guard Station
Brunswick received a call from a woman and her daughter, reporting that
their 16-foot boat had become grounded approximately 1 nautical mile
off the coast of St. Simons Island.
Station Brunswick quickly diverted a boatcrew aboard a 29-foot
Response Boat – Small to assist. When the response boat arrived on
scene, the shallow water only allowed them to get within 250 yards of
the boat. Coast Guard Sector Charleston contacted the women and was told
that the vessel had started taking on water over the side.
“You could tell in their voices they were scared,” said Lt. Jeff
Prebeck, command duty officer for Sector Charleston. “They had started
to take on water, but they had their lifejackets on. That bought us some
time.”
Shortly thereafter, the 16-foot boat capsized, sending both women
into the water. The MH-65 Dolphin helicopter from Coast Guard Air
Station Savannah that was diverted to the scene safely hoisted both
women and transported them to St. Simons Island Airport.
No medical attention was requested.
“Fortunately, we were able to rescue this mother and daughter, and I
think a big part of that is due to them getting their lifejackets on
early,” said Lt. Kyle Richter, one of the pilots on the rescue. “The
lifejackets not only played a big part in keeping them above water, but
their bright orange color enabled us to locate them from inside the
helicopter while we were still several miles away.”
According
to the lawsuit, the "helicopter became uncontrollable due to either a
malfunction or design defect of the tail rotor failure" before crashing
on July 3 in a parking lot at St. Anthony's Summit Medical Center in
Frisco.
"Witnesses at the scene reported that the helicopter was
spinning immediately upon takeoff, which would be consistent with tail
rotor failure," Peter W. Rietz of Rietz Law Firm in Dillon, Colo.
Helicopter pilot Patrick Mahany died in the crash.
David
Repsher, 45, of Silverthorne, and Matthew Bowe, 32, both survived the
crash, and the lawsuit was filed on their behalf. Both Bowe and Repsher
were flight nurses who were on board the Flight For Life helicopter
which was en route to Eagle/Vail for a public relations event for the
American Spirit of Adventure Boy Scout Camp.
Bowe suffered
internal injuries and a permanent disability. Repsher is still in
critical condition since 90 percent of his body was burned during the
post-crash fire.
The lawsuit name Air Methods Corporation, the
helicopter operator, as well as the manufacturer and distributor, Airbus
Helicopters S.A.S. of France and Airbus Helicopters, Inc. out of Grand
Prairie, Texas.
The lawsuit also claims the helicopter was not
safe and crashworthy in that the fuel tank ruptured and burst into
flames upon "moderate ground impact."
"If the fuel tank had remained intact, David would not have suffered these horribly severe burn injuries," Rietz said.
Posted:
Jul 31, 2015 3:11 PM EST
Updated:
Aug 01, 2015 3:53 AM EST
AUSTINTOWN TWP., Ohio -
The Ohio State Highway Patrol Crash Reconstruction
Unit is trying to find out why a truck crashed into five vehicles along
the Ohio Turnpike Friday, killing one woman, injuring seven other
people, and shutting down the westbound lanes of the highway for nearly
eight hours.
According to the Highway Patrol, the crash occurred
at 2:45 p.m. about nine miles west of the Route 7 interchange as a
commercial truck and five private vehicles were westbound on the
highway.
A Hyundai Santa Fe, Kia Forte, and Dodge Charger were in the left lane slowed for traffic due to a lane closure ahead.
A Toyota Rav 4 and the Dodge Caravan were stopped in the right lane due to the lane closure.
A Volvo commercial truck failed to stop in time and struck the right mirror of the Santa Fe.
The
truck proceeded down the middle of both lanes veering to the right and
struck the left rear of the Rav 4 and then the right rear of the Forte. The
Kia Forte was then pushed into the Charger. The truck then struck the
Caravan and pinning it against the right side bridge wall with the
trailer.
The Caravan caught fire and caught the trailer on fire as well. A rear seat passenger of the Caravan, Stacy Gardner, age 44 of Massillon, Ohio died at the scene.
The
Caravan was driven by Michael Gardner, age 45, of Massillon, Ohio.
Gardner was transported to Cleveland Metro Health Medical Center and is
listed in serious condition.
Two minor children were traveling
with Gardner and treated and released for minor injuries. All occupants
were wearing their seat belts at the time of the crash.
The truck was driven by Rahmatkarn Dhillon, age 23, of Surrey, British Columbia (Canada). Dhillon sustained no injuries.
The
2008 Hyundai Santa Fe was driven by Linda Gilboy, age unknown, New
Kensington, Pennsylvania. Gilboy was wearing her seat belt at the time
of the crash and suffered no injuries.
The 2009 Toyota Rav 4 was
driven by Elizabeth Barber, age 61, of Philadelphia. Her vehicle had
three additional occupants, two were minors, whose names are unknown at
this time. All four occupants were transported to Saint Elizabeth’s
Hospital in Youngstown, Ohio with minor injuries.
The 2013 Kia
Forte was driven by Ruth Woods, age 27, of Warren, Ohio. Woods was
transported to unknown with possible serious injuries.
The 2015
Dodge Charger was driven by Christopher Ksepka, of Third Lake, Illinois.
Ksepka was wearing his seat belt at the time of the crash and sustained
no injuries.
All westbound lanes were closed for over eight hours and traffic was diverted to complete the on scene investigation. Traffic was diverted onto exit 234 (I-680/Youngstown) until the westbound lanes could open again. The accident is at the same location of a fatal accident that closed the westbound lanes for several hours this past November.
Canadian Rapper Shane Redway, above, was killed in a car crash in Toronto Aug. 1, 2015. gofundme/ Funeral Fund For Shane Redway
TORONTO – Up-and-coming Canadian rapper Shane Redway has been
killed in a fiery crash which also claimed the lives of two others.
Police said the vehicle rolled over and caught fire near Toronto’s Pearson International Airport early Saturday.
“With
a heavy heart and deepest regards, it’s with great sadness to [sic]
announce the sudden death of Toronto Rapper Shane Redway,” a statement
from Champ Management confirmed to Global News.
“Redway was known
for being a passionate artist who was always striving for greatness,
pushing the boundaries of always believing in your visions and dreams
which led to the creation of the BLVD (The Belief Leading Visions &
Dreams).”
“The family asks for privacy during this time of mourning.” A donation page has been started for Redway’s family to help with funeral expenses. The
incident occurred on the northbound Hwy. 427 approaching Hwy. 401 just
after 4 a.m. The OPP said it appears Redway was driving with two female
passengers. The OPP said it appears the vehicle veered off the road and hit the right-side guard rail. The vehicle the caught fire. Redway
and one woman died at the scene. Witnesses helped a third person,
another woman, out of the burning vehicle and performed CPR. She later
died in hospital. The other two victims have not been identified. Investigators are working to determine what caused the collision and witnesses are asked to come forward. Based on the facts we know, this appears to be another drunk or drug or high speed crash. We will wait to see the results of the autopsy.
There’s been an outpouring of support and shock expressed online, with #RIPRedway trending Canada-wide on Twitter.
Two people were killed in a fiery crash on Second Avenue in Pittsburgh early Saturday morning, authorities said.
The
single-vehicle accident happened shortly after 2 a.m. when a Dodge
Charger lost control as it passed an underpass, striking a bridge
support, police said. The car then burst into flames.
CLEVELAND
- NASA today released hi-resolution images of Lake Erie showing the
algal bloom in the lake. The algae is the green color in the lake
swirling around the western basin.
The images were captured by the
Operational Land Imager on the satellite Landsat 8. Be sure to download
the full high-resolution image HERE (warning: This is a large 16mb file. Download on WiFi recommended).
Zoom
in on the high resolution image near the islands. You can see boat
traffic moving through the algae leaving "tracks" in the bloom.
Presidential disaster signed for Iowa June storm damage
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) —
Nineteen Iowa
counties will be getting federal help in their recovery from severe
storms last month that delivered high wind, tornadoes, heavy rain, hail
and thunderstorms.
A statement from the White House released Friday
says President Barack Obama signed a disaster declaration to help share
the cost of emergency work, repair and replacement of facilities
including roads and bridges with state and local government agencies and
some nonprofit organizations.
The counties included are
Allamakee, Appanoose, Butler, Clayton, Dallas, Davis, Des Moines,
Guthrie, Howard, Jefferson, Lee, Lucas, Marion, Mitchell, Monroe,
Warren, Wayne, Winneshiek, and Wright.
A state preliminary damage assessment found the weather system in Iowa June 20-25 caused more than $5 million in damage.
Sons claim negligence contributed to crash that killed 3
Flagler County sheriff's office investigators and firefighters
inspect the scene of a fiery plane crash into a house at 22 Utica Path,
Palm Coast on Friday January 4, 2013. NEWS-JOURNAL FILE/DAVID TUCKER
By Tony Holttony.holt@news-jrnl.com
Published: Thursday, July 30, 2015 at 11:21 a.m.
Last Modified: Thursday, July 30, 2015 at 3:38 p.m.
PALM COAST — Michael R. Anders felt an unexpected vibration in
his airplane's propeller and immediately reported it by radio to the
nearest control tower.
Anders, who was flying a 1957 Beechcraft
single-engine plane the afternoon of Jan. 4, 2013, told air-traffic
controllers, "I need some help here." Those in the Daytona Beach tower
erred by directing Anders to an airport 8 miles away instead of one that
was 2 miles closer, according to a civil complaint filed Wednesday in
federal court.
The plane subsequently crashed into a house in Palm
Coast less than a mile from the airport, killing Anders, 58, and his
two passengers. The family of one of those passengers, Charisse Peoples,
42, filed a wrongful death suit Wednesday against the Federal Aviation
Administration.
Attorneys for Peoples' two sons, now adults, are
alleging the FAA was negligent when its air-traffic controllers directed
Anders to the Flagler County Airport, which they said was 5 miles from
Anders' location when he radioed for help. The lawsuit states the
Flagler airport actually was 8 miles away at the time, while the Ormond
Beach Municipal Airport was 6 miles from his location.
The lawsuit
alleges more mistakes were committed by FAA employees. The air-traffic
controllers directed Anders to fly farther away from the Flagler airport
and perform a number of turns, which meant his aircraft was losing
altitude with insufficient engine power, said Timothy A. Loranger, the
attorney representing Peoples' sons in the lawsuit. By the time he was
less than a mile from the Flagler airport, he had descended too much and
had no power to make it to the closest runway. The plane crashed into a single-family home at 22 Utica Path. "(Anders)
needed help ... and everyone in the air-traffic control center was
treating this like an emergency," said Loranger during a phone interview
Thursday. "The solution they came up with was not the right solution."
Darrel
Joseph, administrator for Peoples' estate, filed the lawsuit on behalf
of the estate and Peoples' two sons, ages 21 and 19, respectively, in
U.S. District Court in Orlando.
The flight left the St. Lucie
County International Airport in Fort Pierce and was headed to the
Knoxville Downtown Island Airport in Knoxville, Tennessee. A third
person, Duane L. Shaw, 59, also was a passenger on the plane. Anders and
Shaw were both from Albany, Kentucky.
The plane lost oil
pressure, descended fast and crashed into a house owned by Susan
Crockett. Crockett was in another room when the nose of the plane ripped
through the ceiling above her living room. Crockett escaped through a
bedroom window with minor injuries, but everyone on the plane died at
the scene.
Loranger said he believes the crash was caused by a clear case of negligence on the part of the FAA.
"The
United States, through the Federal Aviation Administration and its
air-traffic controllers, breached its ... duties when it negligently
failed to use the reasonable care and diligence exercised by other
air-traffic controllers under the same or similar circumstances,
committing acts and/or omissions constituting negligence," Loranger
stated in a news release.
During his phone interview with the
News-Journal, Loranger said controllers could have instructed Anders to
maintain as much altitude as possible by talking him through a direct
flight to the airport. Doing so would have allowed him to descend below
the clouds and land safely at any of the available runways, said
Loranger.
Instead, Anders lost valuable time and with every
unnecessary turn he took, by direction of the tower, the plane lost
altitude. He was unable to increase altitude because of the engine
failure, Loranger said.
The crash occurred about 4,200 feet
southeast of the runway, according to the National Transportation Safety
Board, which investigated the accident.
Loranger specializes in
aviation law and practices in Los Angeles. He is with the law firm Baum,
Hedlund, Aristei and Goldman, which has an office in Tallahassee.
Nicole A. Navas, a spokeswoman with the U.S. Department of Justice, confirmed her agency is aware of the case.
"We are reviewing the complaint and have no further comment at this time," Navas said.
Through a spokeswoman, the FAA stated it would not comment because it does not discuss open civil maters. Loranger
said Peoples, Anders and Shaw "very likely would have survived" had the
air-traffic controllers done their job properly.
"Like every
grieving family, they are devastated by the loss and are trying to
understand how anything like this could happen," Loranger said of
Peoples' sons. "When they learned that their mother could have lived if
appropriate decisions were made, it saddened them."
Two years
after the crash, Crockett filed a claim of her own in federal court
seeking damages. Crockett and her attorney, Marc Dwyer, also have
contacted state lawmakers in an effort to invoke federal regulations
that would prohibit pilots from flying without insurance. That would be
the bigger gain for them compared to any monetary compensation, said
Dwyer. They hope to see changes in the law.
"I hope justice is
done in those cases, and that the families who lost their loved ones do
not suffer a complete loss," Dwyer told the News-Journal on Thursday.
"The larger issue still needs to be addressed, the issue that our
government allows these pilots to fly without having insurance."
Loranger
said the insurance matter is a critical issue. He pointed out that the
number of cases involving passengers and others victimized by plane
crashes continues to increase while no new regulations are being
implemented.
"It has been an issue for us that we've run into
many times," he said. "That goes not only for the operator of the
aircraft, but maintenance facilities as well." S.V. Dedmon, an
aviation law expert at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, told the
News-Journal last year that the federal government sees it as
"risk-management issue." In other words, in the eyes of lawmakers, there
aren't enough aviation casualties to warrant mandatory insurance laws
for pilots flying smaller aircraft.
In 2012, there were 33,561
highway deaths in the U.S. By comparison, there were 449
aviation-related deaths that same year, according to the NTSB.
