Jury awards $89 Million to victims of 1999 airplane crash

April 8, 2010 (flight injury.com – Aviation Accidents, Injury News, Wrongful Death)

A Philadelphia jury awarded $89 million to one survivor and the estates of three passengers killed in a 1999 Ohio plane crash.

The jury found, Lycoming Engines, the plane’s engine manufacturer responsible for the crash because it failed to disclose information to the general public about issues with its carburetor that led to the crash.

In 1999, the 1968-built, six-seat Piper Cherokee, crashed shortly after taking off after a refueling stop in Youngstown, OH. The crash killed Lendon Pridgen, 53, and stepson, Anthony Cipparone, 15, both of Collegeville; Kenneth Tubman, 47, of Lower Providence; and Daniel Diggen, 56, of Chester, Md. The only survivor, Tyler Johnson, 15, was severely injured.

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court rejected arguments from the manufacturer that a statute of repose would have barred the lawsuit on grounds that the manufacturer withheld information regarding the defect.

The jury awarded $25 million in compensatory damages, and punitive damages in the amount of $64 million.