The
family of a pilot killed in a February 2008 landing accident has sued avionics
manufacturer Avidyne, claiming the accident plane's primary flight display was
"defective and dangerous"... despite a National Transportation Safety
Board ruling that pilot error was to blame.
The Oregonian
reports the $10.5 million wrongful death and negligence suit was filed on
behalf of the widow and three children of Dr. Richard Otoski. The suit claims
problems with the Lancair Columbia 400's autopilot and attitude/heading
reference system (AHRS) were causal to the aircraft crashing while Otoski
attempted to make an ILS approach in hard IFR conditions to Portland
International Airport (PDX) on February 16, 2008.
As ANN reported, the pilot and sole
occupant was killed when the plane crashed alongside Runway 10-Right at PDX.
The aircraft was making its second approach to land in heavy fog when it
deviated from the approach path -- in an apparent attempt to go missed -- and
clipped a tree. The observed runway visual range (RVR) was below IFR minimums
at the time of the accident.
"The
airplane's turn to the southeast was consistent with the missed approach course
of 160 degrees; however, a climb to 900 feet is required prior to commencing
the right turn, as outlined on approach plate's missed approach
instructions," reads the NTSB Probable Cause report. "It appears the
pilot likely misinterpreted the missed approach instructions by making the right
hand turn prior to initiating a climb to 900 feet, which resulted in the
subsequent impact with the tree.
"...The
airplane continued on the collision course before impacting the ground in a
left wing low, nose down attitude, about 845 feet from the initial impact point
with the tree," continues the report. "It then traveled through an
airport perimeter fence before coming to rest on a perimeter road in an upright
position, about 15 feet from the ground impact point."
Otoski was killed
on impact. The Probable Cause report notes "[n]o preimpact anomalies were
found during an examination of the airframe and engine. The airplane's avionics
components revealed that they were too thermally and impact-damaged to provide
any data." The Board's determination was the accident was due to "the
pilot's failure to follow the missed approach procedure. Contributing to the
accident were the fog and below landing minimums visibility conditions."
Also named in the
lawsuit is the former Lancair Certified Aircraft -- later Columbia Aircraft
Manufacturing Company -- which is now owned by Cessna.