Helicopter crash landing due to tail rotor spider bearing failure, lumbar back fusion, Large settlement
Plaintiff was a passenger in a helicopter which crash-landed in Patterson, Louisiana after having lost tail rotor control. The NTSB and other experts examined the aircraft which was totally destroyed and found that the tail rotor spider bearing failed and was currently under an FAA Airworthiness Directive in connection with specialized maintenance and periodic testing of the bearing due to previous complaints of failure.
Plaintiff originally filed suit against the helicopter operator and Eurocopter, Inc., (Marseilles, France). Toward the end of discovery deadlines, plaintiff and the operator settled. Thereafter, plaintiff and the operator filed suit against the bearing manufacturer, La Réunion Aérienne (Turin, Italy). Shortly before trial, and during depositions in Turin, Italy, La Réunion Aérienne furnished documents that were never produced by the defendant, Eurocopter, Inc. These documents showed that the defendant, La Réunion Aérienne had previously advised Eurocopter, Inc. that the tail rotor spider bearing utilized by Eurocopter, Inc. was a "shelf" bearing and that its continued use in Helicopters posed ". . . a concrete risk of failure". Due to the failure of Eurocopter to provide complete disclosure and documentation, plaintiff and operator filed a motion to strike the witnesses and defendants of Eurocopter, Inc. The trial Judge struck all expert witnesses scheduled to testify on behalf of Eurocopter, Inc. Shortly thereafter, a confidential settlement was completed with all defendants.
Randy Comeaux v. Tex-Air Helicopters, Inc., et al.
No. CV00-1339-LO, U. S. District Court, W. D. of La
Defect Found in Gas Tanker - Million Dollar Settlement
A leading manufacturer of manholes for aluminum gas tankers settled a product defect suit As part of a larger legal settlement with other co-defendants, Betts Industries, Inc. settled a suit which alleged that a defective manhole as well as three venting devices, and a Betts-patented clamping bond led to explosions when a tank truck rolled in a crash. The accident occurred when the gas tanker truck hit the rear-end of an illegally parked flatbed truck. The driver and passengers of the tanker went off the highway and rolled with the truck. Ensuing explosions caused by leakage in the vents and manhole resulted in serious burn injuries suffered by persons in a number of vehicles.
According to Joseph R. Joy, III, who represented three burn victims, his clients recovered from the owner of the tanker and Betts Industries, Inc. a total settlement of $1.3 million. Joy notes that the settlement with Betts was achieved before trial due to his acquisition of test films produced for the federal government. The test films showed that the Betts devices, as well as most other manufacturers' vents and manholes, leak during rollovers. This is a violation of the Motor Carrier Safety Act which specifically requires that the integrity of such devices on gas tankers be maintained in rollovers. While no estimates of the number of similarly equipped and thus potentially hazardous tanker was offered by Betts. Joy notes that the expert testified that it uses the Betts devices on all of its tank trucks unless otherwise specified.
Jones Act: General Maritime Law: Excessive weight of object lifted; Duty to provide mechanical aid or additional personnel: Back Injury.
The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals affirms without opinion a bench award of $272,460, plus 7% interest from the date of trial, for permanent total disability stemming from the back injury sustained by a 37-year-old drilling rig floorhand earning $15,000 per year. The trial court had previously found that the employee’s assigned task of lifting a 135-pound mud pump cover was beyond his individual physical capacity, thus rendering the vessel owner negligent and the vessel unseaworthy; however the employee’s failure to request additional aid was held 30% contributorily negligent.
Plaintiff’s duties as floorhand on a movable drilling rig required that he keep the mud pumps in working condition. While inspecting a clogged pump, he removed its 135-pound cover and injured his back. Plaintiff underwent five myelograms and four surgical procedures, including a laminectomy and disc removal. The injury rendered plaintiff totally and permanently disabled, and he brought a personal injury suit under the Jones Act and general maritime law.
The trial court, relying on the testimony of plaintiff's bio-engineering expert, found it unsafe for one man to handle a weight of 135 pounds and held that failure to provide plaintiff with sufficient assistance constituted negligence of the vessel owner and rendered the vessel unseaworthy. The trial court stated that "The vessel owner should know what is a safe or unsafe lift rather than leave the safety precautions to the option of each seaman," the court determined that defendant was "negligent as a matter of law in failing to ascertain that mechanical aids were necessary to perform the task in question, in failing to have aids readily available and in failing to instruct the plaintiff to use them."
Young v. Diamond M Miller Co., U.S. District Court, Western District of
Louisiana, Docket No. 77-0687; appealed to U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth
Circuit, Docket No. 80-3380.
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