Aircraft manufacturer not responsible for Cory Lidle crash
May 25, 2011, 03:41 pm
When New York Yankees pitcher Cory Lidle and a flight instructor crashed into the side of a building in 2006, their widows claimed that the accident was the result of faulty manufacturing, not pilot error, according to the New York Daily News. After a four-week-long trial, the jury in the $50 million wrongful death lawsuit disagreed.
The defendant, Cirrus Design Corporation, maintained that the pilot's inability to make a tight move was the cause of the accident, the paper reports. In a surprise twist, a witness testified that Lidle had traveled the same route four times prior to the crash, but that did not sway the jury's decision.
"We're gratified that the jury reached a decision that confirmed what the National Transportation Safety Board found and what we have always believed: the SR-20 did not cause this accident," Bill King, Cirrus vice president, told the news source.
Lidle's widow also sued the life insurance company after they refused to cover the accidental death benefit on his policy. The Major League Baseball life insurance coverage he had did not cover aviation accidents in which Lidle was the pilot. He did not have pilots life insurance, which may have covered the accident.
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