Allen Bradley, a former state
representative from DeRidder got Jerry McKernan, a Baton Rouge
attorney, to help in the lawsuit, and the two attorneys announced
the settlement Friday in a prepared release
As an aside, Bradley was in a mobile
telephone conversation with a Town Talk reporter concerning the
release when he was in a two-vehicle accident on U.S Highway 190,
heavily damaging both vehicles. No one was hurt.
Gene and Carolyn Mayo of DeRidder
and Wallace and Linda Cryer of Cold Springs, Texas, were aboard
the Cessna Cardinal 177RG en route from Pine Bluff, Ark., to
DeRidder when a rigid external oil line broke during flight. The
engine oil was pumped overboard.
"While the pilot, Gene Mayo,
attempted to reach the Camden Airport, the engine seized, and the
airplane crashed just short of the airport property. All
occupants of the plane survived by suffered serious back and other
injuries,” the attorneys said.
They said a lawsuit was filed
claiming the “oil line failure was a result of poor design and
that the defendants failed to warn aircraft users of the known
dangers of the oil line failure. The claimants referred to other
accidents and incidents which arose due to the failure of the same
line in other aircraft.”
Sued were Cessna Aircraft, Textron
Lycoming and the Home Insurance Co. Cessna and Textron, the
engine's manufacturer, denied any responsibility for the accident.
The lawsuit was scheduled to go to
trial in Leesville last November, but the parties reached the
settlement just days before the trial was to begin.
McKernan said he could not discuss
how the settlement monies 'would be divided among the claimants.
He did say, “This settlement stands for the proposition that a
manufacturer is responsible to consumers for injuries caused by
the unreasonable failure of its products."
Bradley added, "Our clients have
been compensated for their losses by the parties responsible
for their injuries."
