McClintock v. United States
Jan 08, 2008OUTCOME:
Three Madison County men were on a return flight from a hunting trip to South Dakota. The single-engine, six-seat, Beech Bonanza was enroute over Missouri at night when it entered a severe thunderstor ... m cell causing a loss of control and subsequent crash in Missouri. All three men on board were killed. WKW brought negligence claims on behalf of the surviving family members against Air Traffic Control (“ATC”) under the Federal Tort Claims Act. Using a meteorologist expert, WKW showed that the controller’s radar screen would have displayed a hole in the line of thunderstorms, through which the Bonanza was supposed to pass. However, instead of sending the Bonanza through the hole, ATC suggested a turn which placed the aircraft on a path directly into a severe thunderstorm cell. WKW also used complex choice-of-law rules to establish that Missouri law applied to the case. With an experienced team of experts and advantages gained from Missouri law, WKW was able to reach a multi-million dollar settlement for the families.
