Savannahnow.com wrote:By Associated Press

COLUMBIA, S.C. — The widow of a Georgia jogger killed when a plane hit him during an emergency landing on a South Carolina beach has sued the plane's manufacturer and owner.

Jennifer Dawn Jones says in court documents that the plane's manufacturer didn't properly design and the pilot didn't properly maintain the plane.

Robert Gary Jones was killed March 15 when a kit-built single-engine plane hit him on the beach at Hilton Head Island. Authorities say the 38-year-old Woodstock, Ga., native had been listening to his iPod and likely didn't hear the plane's quiet approach from behind.

Authorities said the plane had lost its propeller, and oil smeared the windshield. The plane took off from Orlando, Fla., and was en route to Virginia when it started leaking oil.

No attorney was listed for the company or the pilot.

patrol guy wrote:Zane, it’s always a small world around here. That guy worked for the same pharmaceutical company that Deb worked for. But I agree accidents happen, and folks need to be responsible for their own actions.

I would sign a pledge that I would never sue any one for anything, if I could be exempt from being sued. Watch the attorneys and insurance companies fight that bill!

1SeventyZ wrote:No wonder new planes cost so much. Can the widow of a jogger who's hit by a truck while listening to his iPod sue Freightliner?

mtv wrote:The "manufacturer" of an experimental aircraft is the person who built it. So, if that was the pilot in this xase, he's the only one being sued.

MTV

mtv wrote:The "manufacturer" of an experimental aircraft is the person who built it. So, if that was the pilot in this xase, he's the only one being sued.

MTV

Throttle Pusher wrote:Well with the million she got from the Insurance she can afford a realy good lawyer.
But if the pilot / manufacture has no money she's just going to waste it and then nobody but the lawyers are going to be happy.
That is if he had insurance...

1SeventyZ wrote:

mtv wrote:The "manufacturer" of an experimental aircraft is the person who built it. So, if that was the pilot in this xase, he's the only one being sued.

MTV

It's even scarier that an individual can suffer a civil payout as a manufacturer, as in the case of a homebuilt Experimental.

qmdv wrote:

1SeventyZ wrote:

mtv wrote:The "manufacturer" of an experimental aircraft is the person who built it. So, if that was the pilot in this xase, he's the only one being sued.

MTV

It's even scarier that an individual can suffer a civil payout as a manufacturer, as in the case of a homebuilt Experimental.

We do not know what happened to cause this. I think that I would have put it down in the water before a beach full of people. Who should be responsible if the builder left the safety wire off the prop hub bolts.

On second thought, if he put it in the water, the environmental clean up cost would be more than the widow would ever get. Who has insurance for that.

Tim

Glidergeek wrote:If I remember the story right, the jogger was about the only person on the beach when this incident happened. Next time I'm jogging on the beach, I'm wearing red shorts, bright orange tee shirt, and a bright orange baseball cap! Oh yeah, red knee high socks, too.

And run backwards and hope the plane doesn't come from the other direction.

bumper wrote:If our government really wanted to see this recession end, tort reform, loser pays, punitive damage limits etc, would go a very long way.