What: crop dusting helicopter
Where: 1778 Richvale Highway, Richvale, Butte County California
When: Wednesday May 13
Who: pilot Craig Compton
Why: The pilot (and business owner of Avag ) was moving the plane when it crashed into a building. Compton was flown to Enloe Medical Center in Chico.
AVAG’s business is aerial seeding.
What: Alfa Airlines Antonov 24/26 en route from Khartoum to Talodi
Where: near Talodi
When: August 19. 2012
Who: 32 aboard, 32 fatalities, 6 crew, 26 occupants
Why: Sudanese officials en route to a Muslim festival were aboard a flight that crashed into a hill near Talodi. According to some reports, the 35 year old plane crashed into a mountainside during a dust storm while on a second go-round on approach to the airport; other reports make no reference to mountains or dust and just say the crash occurred during seasonal rains.
Talodi is a town in South Kordofan.
Guidance and Endowments (religious affairs) Minister Ghazi al-Sadeq was killed in the crash, along with Mahjoub Abdel Raheem Toutou, state minister for youth and sports, and Eissa Daifallah, state minister for tourism, antiquities and wildlife were aboard the plane.
Initial reports indicated there were 31 aboard but that number was increased to 32.
The news video below says the accident occurred during the second go-round during a rain storm.
Alfa Airlines is on the list of airlines banned within the EU. The captain who was from Russia had been flying with Alfa Airlines for five years, according to “Inquirer News” and was flying with a Sudanese co-pilot.
Plane crash cases take a long time to settle, and the families of the Mangalore Crash can vouch for it, having been waiting since the date of the crash in May of 2010. Families who are still waiting on a settlement, and will be back in court this November. They aren’t looking for extraordinary measures, but want compensation for flight 812–the Air India Express Dubai-Mangalore in accordance with the Montreal Convention. 152 died in the crash.
According to The National, Airlines are required to pay compensation of 7.5 million rupees (Dh560,000) per passenger to families of crash victims, just as a Kerala judge ordered. Then that judge was overruled in favor of Air India Express. This November, the case will move into the highest court to rule in favor of the victims or Air India Express.
I know I have said this before, but it bears repeating.
I must remind the families that the value of the aviation case is usually much higher than 75 lakhs.
And this is because Tier II of the Montreal Treaty.
The convention’s second tier deals with the portion of a claim exceeding the $155,000 limit. An airline can avoid liability for portions of claims over the limit by proving it was “not negligent or otherwise at fault.”
I’m not a lawyer but I know from experience how it works. I have been working with wrongful death cases for years, and have learned a lot from the experience my aviation experts have graciously passed on to me.
If you can prove provable damages, then Tier II (referred to in Article 21(2) of the Montreal Convention) Air India Express is liable to families/passengers for all personal injury or wrongful death damages exceeding 100,000 Special Drawing Rights (SDRs), unless the carrier(s) can prove that the injuries or deaths were not due to the negligence or other wrongful act or omission of the carrier or it servants or agents OR the injuries or deaths were solely due to the negligence or other wrongful act or omission of a third party.
My guess is that the carrier will never prove this. The burden of proof is on them. If I am correct, and know the experts who have taught me, are correct, Air India Express is liable to the victims’ families for all damages under the applicable law, including but not limited to, pain & suffering of your loved one prior to death.
They are liable for pain and suffering, the loss of support, i.e., money, the loss and enjoyment of life of the victim.
I hope the families don’t sell themselves short, and give up all that may be coming in return for even a payment of the 75 lakhs. Accepting 75 lakhs—which may look like a lot after the losses they’ve suffered—but if they sign their name on the dotted like, they give up the right to future compensation.
Pilot William Bart Colantuono of Indialantic, Florida, was working for R&R Conner Aviation of Darby, Montana when his helicopter crashed while he was lifting logs in Oregon. Colantuono released the logs before crashing.
Witnesses saw a rotor separate before the helicopter flipped and crashed upside down. Colantuono, originally a navy pilot, had been flying privately for 25 years, and authored a book on “hell-logging.”
The accident occurred on Sept 17, 2013.
The official preliminary report said “16-SEP-13/N204UH BELL UH-1B ROTORCRAFT CRASHED UNDER UNKNOWN CIRCUMSTANCES DURING A LOGGING OPERATION, THE 1 PERSON ON BOARD WAS FATALLY INJURED, NEAR DETROIT, OREGON”
What: N70FT Inc. Cessna 152 en route from Space Coast Aviation at the Merritt Island Airport
Where: Blue Cypress Lake, Indian River County, FL
When: June 9 2011
Who: 2 fatalities, Carly Beattie and Daniel Beattie
Why: A Cessna 152 chartered by Scottish visitors Carly Beattie and Daniel Beattie crashed in Indian River County southwest blue Cypress Lake. The plane crashed in mud and swampland in Blue Cypress Conservation area; the crash site is north of State Road 60 and east of Florida’s Turnpike, between Fellsmere and Yeehaw Junction, on land owned by the St. John’s River Water Management District. The rural area is home to venomous snakes and alligators, making recovery more difficult.
Carly was a student pilot, and not allowed to take passengers.
The plane apparently nosedived engine deep into the mud, splitting the fuselage behind the cockpit. The plane was lost on Thursday, reported Thursday at 11, and not found till Friday. Cell tower analysis helped to determine the location.
A crane will probably be used to recover the wreckage. An airboat was used to reach the site, and hikers were wearing waist-high boots. The NTSB is investigating.
The piliot set crash site co-ordinates by CB radio but had to spend the night out in the elements as conditions prevented his recovery until 1 pm the next day.
The wreck was located at 10 in the morning Dec 26th, lying upside down with a wing torn off
What: Private Socata TB21 Trinidad TC en route from Durango to Aspen
Where: Silverton, CO
When: Dec 3 2011
Who: 4 aboard
Why: Forty minutes after leaving Durango for a Christmas party in Snowmass Village., the plane crashed into mountains near Silverton Colorado. Hampered by inclement weather, searchers had to deal with nearly a foot of snow between Saturday and Sunday in the mountains at 11,000 above sea level.
The bodies of Jenna Rich and Tyler Black were found and recovered, and are headed for autopsy.
The search continues for two more bodies. The four adult passengers have all been reported as deceased. Three of those aboard were employees of Alpine Bank, and the fourth aboard was a spouse.
The debris field of the crash covers more than a mile.
