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Widow Wins $10.5M Due to Slow Crash Response
A Washington state widow won a $10.5 million verdict against the organizers of an aviation event in which her husband crashed and burned to death in an experimental aircraft.
She claimed that the organizers failed to provide a properly trained fire crew and equipment, and that their response to the crash was shockingly slow.
When Don Corbitt's plane crashed on takeoff at a regional aviation show, he spent five minutes trapped in the cockpit as bystanders frantically attempted to free him and keep the flames at bay.
They expended eight fire extinguishers before the fire crew arrived. But by then it was too late.
Plaintiff's attorney Frank Smith argued that if the organizers had provided standard airport firefighting equipment and responded promptly to the crash, Corbitt would not have died.
"In this case, they were putting on a fly-in. They knew that guys were flying in with limited experience. Accidents were inevitable at their event," Smith said.
