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From: bl@hplabsb.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.aviation
Subject: Re: Citation lawsuit
Message-ID: <3231@hplabsb.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 13-Jan-86 14:13:33 EST
Article-I.D.: hplabsb.3231
Posted: Mon Jan 13 14:13:33 1986
Date-Received: Wed, 15-Jan-86 08:10:28 EST
References: <957@terak.UUCP> <3710@kestrel.ARPA> <967@terak.UUCP>
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Organization: Hewlett Packard Labs, Palo Alto CA
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> This was the crash where pitching star Thurman Munson killed himself
> and two passengers while practicing touch-and-goes.

Munson was killed but his passengers survived.  Actually, he survived
the impact was burned to death when he couldn't exit the plane.

> I don't recall the basis for the lawsuit; through the fog in my head
> I see vague images of the single-pilot certification for the Citation.
> Maybe that was it.
> 
> More clearly, I remember that the immediate cause of the crash was
> that Munson had failed to lower the flaps, and apparently V(ref) is
> below V(s1) on the Citation because he stalled while slowing to
> final approach speed.  I also remember that one of his passengers
> not only wasn't belted in, he wasn't even seated.

He did forget to lower the flaps but did not stall it.  He got into
a high rate of sink and was unable to recover before hitting the ground.

The lawsuit was based on the tort principle that someone else is responsible
for the stupidity of the victim.  Cessna was sued for building an unsafe
aircraft; (It won't stay in the air at low speed, low power, and no flaps.
It burns if it hits the ground at >5000 fpm rate of decent, etc.).  The
dealer who sold the plane was sued for selling it to someone who could make
the stupid mistake of trying to land it without flaps.