http://www.avweb.com/avwebflash/news/13-Million-Judgment-Against-Mechanic-For-Crash-223632-1.html

I'd be willing to bet that every A&P and IA will soon be paying more for their errors and omission type insurance.

Typical California touchy feeley kneejerk reaction to a slick talking lawyer and a liberal jury that has to unreasonably enrich.

FAA investigation concluded "There was no evidence of a pre-mishap mechanical malfunction or failure observed during the examination of the engine or airframe." I would seriously think that this statement would have covered the seat inspection by the FAA, especially since there has been such interest in seat rails and Cessna's free installation of a kit especially to stop this potential problem.

But "Danko (the slick lawyer) said his firm's examination of the wreckage found the fully retracted seat and unclipped seat belt and theorized that Gottlieb spent his final moments trying to crawl forward to take back the control yoke". It seems his "self serving investigation", which was sometime after the FAA's investigation, should have found this condition due to the body no longer being in the aircraft, you would have to unclip the seat belt and slide the seat back to remove the body.

If there is an appeal, at the least, the award will probably be reduced. In reading Danko's summary of the case, technical law issues and maybe some influences may have been involved.

Typical case as to what is wrong with our civil judgement system.

I find the allegations of jury rigging anything on an airplane and pencil-whipping an annual wildly out of character for this mechanic. I've known him for 40 years.

If you cant get the judgement you want out of the FAA or NTSB, you can always go get some shyster to represent you in civil court.