Ladd Sanger, who heads up our Dallas office, recently settled three cases swiftly.

Sanger’s first settlement involved the crash of a Beechcraft Baron in May 2000 at Houston Hobby airport. Sanger represented the family of Clay Gillis, who was the business manager for the Gregory-Portland School District in Rockport, Texas. Gillis, other district personnel and district contractors were headed on a fishing trip to Louisiana.

“The aircraft stopped in Houston to pick up other passengers. The pilot installed the control lock in the control column but didn’t remove it before takeoff. The aircraft was overloaded and pitched nose-up on take-off. Then it stalled, rolled over and crashed, killing all six aboard,” Sanger said.

Control lock “on”

“The control lock mechanism is a pin that’s inserted underneath an area where the control column comes through the instrument panel. This pin keeps the aileron and elevator surface from flapping while aircraft is parked. It’s also known as a ‘gust lock’,” Sanger said.

A number of Beechcraft Barons have crashed when pilots attempted to take off while the control lock was installed, Sanger said.

“Because of the design of the control lock, it’s difficult to tell when it’s installed if pilots use only part of the control lock mechanism or an improvised control lock,” Sanger said.

Beechcraft has issued an airworthiness directive (AD) that calls for a modification to the control lock assembly, but the modification was not made to the plane in which Gillis died. “Instead of locking the controls in a nose-up situation that allows the aircraft to gain altitude, the Beechcraft AD says to lock the controls in a pitch-down situation so the plane cannot take off,” Sanger said.

Gillis is survived by his wife Pam Gillis, three daughters and his mother.

Traffic news copters vulnerable

Sanger recently settled cases for two clients who both survived a terrifying 800-foot plunge to earth by a news and traffic helicopter operated for KVIL by Sky One. Sky One provides helicopter services nationwide to Metro Traffic Networks.

KVIL reporter Perri Reavis and KLTY reporter Marlyne “Starlene” Stringer were on board when the helicopter lost power and crashed at a busy intersection in North Dallas in April 2002.

“It was lucky that our clients were not more seriously injured. Both sustained orthopedic injuries and still experience serious effects of the trauma. The crash was caused by poor maintenance resulting in a loose PC pneumatic line that caused the turbine engine to quit,” Sanger said.

In December 2003, another emergency landing of a Metro Traffic Networks helicopter in Dallas was the second such incident since Sky One took over maintenance and operations of Metro Traffic Networks’ services for local news media.

Mid-Air crash take lives of five

In another recent settlement, Sanger successfully represented Melissa Rivera of Texas, whose teenage daughter Shelbi Willy died in a horrifying mid-air collision between a Cessna 172N and a Cessna 182Q.

The June 2003 crash near Deerfield Beach, Florida, killed all five aboard when the planes fell into the sea. Shelbi Willy’s father was piloting one of the planes.

“We reached partial settlement on this case within just 90 days,” Sanger said. Other negotiations are pending.