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Light Aircraft
Thirty years of experience has enabled O'Reilly & Danko
to develop a team of investigators and experts capable of analyzing accidents
in as much detail as any government agency. This type of expertise is crucial
in an area encompassing such a wide variety of complex aircraft.
But the depth of our experience is complemented by our ability to achieve
the best results for our clients. The $32 million settlement we achieved in
Paboojian v. Teledyne Continental Motors remains the largest single personal
injury settlement in aviation history.
The Firm has tried numerous light aircraft accident cases, including the
following:
- Aero-Commander Lark
- Beech A-35 Bonanza
- Beech A-36 Bonanza
- Beech V-35TC Bonanza
- Beech Queenair
- C-54 and Beech Baron 58P
- Cessna 150
- Cessna 210
- Cessna 177 Cardinal
- Cessna 182
- Cessna T206
- Cessna 310R
- Cessna 337 and L-19
- Lancair 320
- Mooney 20J
- Piper 601 Aerostar
- Piper Archer
- Piper Arrow
- Piper Aztec
- Piper Malibu
- Piper Mirage
- Rockwell 1121-B Jet Commander
| Paboojian
v. Teledyne Continental Motors, et al. Settlement: $ 32,125,000 Santa Clara County Superior Court June 3 , 1986 Plane Crash |
||
| Dennis Paboojian, age 47, was a licensed pilot. He was taking instrument instruction in a Piper Malibu, a plane with which he was relatively unfamiliar. After takeoff from Palomar field in San Diego, the number three cylinder head separated from the engine and caused an engine compartment fire. The instructor, unaware of the cause of the failure or the fire, took the controls but delayed an emergency landing because he could not confirm the condition of the landing gear. As he tried to troubleshoot the apparent gear problem, the fire spread to the cockpit. Shortly thereafter, incapacitated by the flames, the pilot crashed the plane on the median to Interstate 405 adjacent to Long Beach International Airport. | ||
| The flight instructor died in the crash. Mr. Paboojian suffered full thickness burns over 62% of his body. He lost his left forearm, right hand, and most of his facial features including his nose and ears. He also suffered a fully separated diaphragm, an injury so rare the survival rate is virtually unknown. He spent 8 months in intensive care and endured more than 100 reconstructive surgeries. | ||
| Mr. Paboojian was CEO of Rolm Corporation, a technology company he saw into the billion-dollar revenue class before its sale to IBM. He left Rolm for sabbatical just before the crash, complicating the question of earnings. Mr. Paboojian turned to O'Reilly & Danko for representation. | ||
| The Firm conducted a lengthy investigation. The cylinders used in the Malibu engine had first been used in much smaller engines. Continental, the engine's manufacturer, progressively installed these cylinders on larger engines without conducting any additional stress engineering. The Malibu engine, designated the TSIO 520 BE, was the largest of Continental engine to use these cylinders. Not surprisingly, cylinder heads began to crack on this model engine almost from the outset. By the time of the accident, Continental was aware of more than 150 similar incidents. | ||
| Continental assigned a stress engineer to determine the design safety factor for the engine after reports of cracking began to flow in. The engineer determined a safety factor of 1.14, well below the normal design safety factor of 1.50. In fact, the engineer miscalculated, and the actual safety factor was less than one. | ||
| Continental then hired a statistician to predict the likelihood of future failures in the fleet resulting from defective cylinders. The statistician's report was "lost," however, shortly after Paboojian's crash. Though Teledyne paid him $60,000 for his work, the statistician had extreme difficulties recalling the report's conclusion when he testified. He conceded, however, that he had warned Continental future failures were likely. | ||
| Rather than replacing the cylinders on its fleet of TSIO 520 BE engines, Continental issued a Service Bulletin requiring inspection of the cylinders for cracks. Incredibly, the cylinder serial numbers of the Plaintiff's aircraft were not listed in the Service Bulletin. | ||
| Continental's defense stipulated that the pilot should have landed the plane immediately rather than attempt to troubleshoot the landing gear problem. It further contended that the head cracked because codefendant S&G Flight Services improperly reinstalled the plane's turbo charger after servicing, and the improper installation caused vibration which induced the head to crack. After four days of trial, the defendants settled for $31,150,000: the largest aviation settlement ever awarded to a single plaintiff. After the accident, Piper grounded the entire Malibu fleet and discontinued installation of the TSIO 520 BE. | ||
| Related Articles | ||
|---|---|---|
| San Jose Mercury News; October 13, 1990; "Huge settlement in air crash suit;" 1A | ||
| Bakersfield Californian; October 14, 1990;"Record $31 Million settlement won by man injured in '87 plane crash" | ||
| Atlanta Journal and Constitution; October 14, 1990; "Pilot wins $31 million in crash case" | ||
| Chicago Daily Law Bulletin; October 16, 1990; "$31 million injury verdict" | ||
| New York Times; October 16, 1990; "Pilot is awarded $31 million in '87 California plane crash;" A14 | ||
| The Wall Street Journal; October 15, 1990;"Teledyne Unit Agrees to Injury Settlement for 1987 Plane Crash;" A10 | ||