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Lawyer: Plane owner didn't approve deadly flight
An attorney for the owner of a plane in Jasper said Friday he never gave approval for a late-night flight that crashed and killed three teenagers. Herbie Brewer, attorney for Jasper businessman Ray Whitworth, said the fatal flight Tuesday night was an unauthorized joy ride and that the 17-year-old student pilot was not trained to fly the twin-engine plane. (www.google.com) More...
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Did we think he would say anything else? Somebody came up with the key and security card for access to it. While maybe not the brightest thing anybody ever did, if the boy had access, that was tacit approval.
Tacit approval? I technically have "access" to a multitude of aircraft, from ultralights to several turboprops and jets. Does that mean I have "tacit approval" and make the owner of any of those aircraft liable if I were to decide to take one for an unauthorized joyride?
The airfield the aircraft departed from is a small GA airport, not likely a high security airport with security cards and such. The mother's claim that the kid had access to that aircraft may even be more akin to that of a mother of a criminal's claim that their son is a "good boy". She may not even realize the aircraft that was taken is not the one he was training in. My mother probably couldn't tell you the difference between a Cessna 172 and a King Air.
The airfield the aircraft departed from is a small GA airport, not likely a high security airport with security cards and such. The mother's claim that the kid had access to that aircraft may even be more akin to that of a mother of a criminal's claim that their son is a "good boy". She may not even realize the aircraft that was taken is not the one he was training in. My mother probably couldn't tell you the difference between a Cessna 172 and a King Air.
Well, that comment was made when the article first hit about what his Mom said. After all this other, the owner needs to cover his backside, cause it will turn into a he said, she said and you know there will be a lawsuit. He may can get clear if he can keep it under the LLC though, depending on how it is structured. If it gets to him personally, it will be ugly. The tacit approval will be what she can prove, otherwise it's a stolen plane. Bad enough the guy lost the plane and 3 were killed. Even if he gets past the Mom though, he still has the other 2 parents to deal with, regardless of the circumstances. Regarding the security, there was a mention of a security access card and a key in the original article.
Will be ugly for the owner in any case. He will probably need that attorney. :-)
Wait soon it will be that he washed and cleaned the AC for the owner, wiggle wiggle.
If the kid was taking lessons somewhere else on the field he very well may have access to a security gate. To me, it seems like things don't quite add up. Owner is not a CFI, teenager sees plane in hanger all the time, plane doesn't need key to start. Getting into the plane without a key would take three teenagers minutes...horrible story, but to publicly convict the owner based on assumption? Maybe the kid was training in a Cherokee, saw the the cockpit of the PA30 as the owner was working on the plane and decided he could transition on his own. Teenage boys don't always have the best judgement.
