Articles Posted in Personal Injury

According to ESPN, NASCAR Team Owner Rick Hendrick broke his ribs and his shoulder following a crash aboard his private plane. The injury occurred despite his doing everything he could think to prevent the injury, including wearing his seatbelt. Hendrick and his wife were aboard their Gulfstream 150 when it landed at Key West Airport. The plane experienced some braking problems and ran off of the runway. “My belt was on, and something came loose in the seat itself,” Hendrick said. “I hit the bulkhead and my wife. My chest and head went into the seat in front of me, and that’s where I (broke) my ribs and I had a concussion.” After the accident, Hendrick and his wife were hospitalized, but neither pilot was injured.

Hendrick is the owner of Hendrick Motorsports organization which provides equipment and technical support for Stewart-Haas Racing. Hendrick and star racer Jimmie Johnson co-owned the plane, which was used primarily for Johnson’s family’s travels to and from races. This is not the first time that a plane owned by Hendrick was involved in a crash. In 2004, another one of Hendrick’s planes crashed, killing 10, including Hendrick’s son, brother, and nieces.

It is unlikely that anyone is at fault for Hendrick’s injuries. Regular maintenance would be the only real way to catch such problems before they happen. Following instructions from the flight crew and wearing safety restraints are also critical but here nothing would’ve helped given that the seat itself was the cause of the problems. While there does not appear to have been any negligence on the part of the plane’s owners or flight crew, had anyone else on the plane been injured the owners would’ve potentially been in hot water over the thoroughness of their maintenance. To minimize such potential liability plane owners should hire a well respeted company to regularly inspect their aircraft. As powerful members of the NASCAR community, containing risk is very important and compliance with federal aviation safety regulations is paramount.

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According to a recent report by the Jacksonville Daily News, a North Carolina man died after suffering injuries sustained in a cotton gin accident. Reports indicate that Dennis Foy was rushed to the hospital after suffering severe injuries to his face and hands after driving a forklift in the Jones Cotton Gin warehouse. Officials are not sure what happened or how Foy died. Foy was found on the ground with a bunch of very large cotton bales strewn around him. The North Carolina Department of Labor is investigating the incident and will not release any findings until it has first issued citations, which will only occur if there has been a violation of a labor regulation.

Officials are especially tight-lipped about the status of things due to the ongoing investigation. If any health and safety violations are found, the company and its insurance company could be held liable for Foy’s death. Foy’s next of kin may then be able to file a wrongful death lawsuit against his former employer. North Carolina’s wrongful death statute allows the next of kin to sue in place of the victim. To be successful in a wrongful death suit, the plaintiff has to establish the prima facie case for negligence and also demonstrate that he or she is the legal beneficiary entitled to share in the victim’s recovery. After liability is established, damages are specified by statute. Under North Carolina’s Wrongful Death Act, the plaintiff is entitled to the following damages:

1. Expenses for care, treatment and hospitalization incident to the injury resulting in death;
2. Compensation for pain and suffering of the decedent;
3. The reasonable funeral expenses of the decedent;
4. The present monetary value of the decedent to the persons entitled to receive the damages recovered, including but not limited to compensation for the loss of the reasonably expected: a.) Net income of the decedent; b.) Services, protection, care and assistance of the decedent, whether voluntary or obligatory, to the persons entitled to the damages recovered; c.) Society, companionship, comfort, guidance, kindly offices and advice of the decedent to the persons entitled to the damages recovered;
5. Such punitive damages as the decedent could have recovered pursuant to Chapter 1D of the General Statutes had he survived, and punitive damages for wrongfully causing the death of the decedent through malice or willful or wanton conduct, as defined in G.S. 1D;
6. Nominal damages when the jury so finds.

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According to a recent article in the Abilene Reporter-News, a Charlotte, North Carolina couple has filed suit against AirTran Airways after they experienced the most disgusting flight of their lives. Attorney Harry Marsh and fiancée Kaitlin Rush were passengers on a September 15th flight from Charlotte, North Carolina to Houston, Texas, with a short layover in Atlanta, Georgia when they noticed cockroaches creeping and crawling throughout the plane’s cabin.

The couple filed suit on November 10, 2011, in the North Carolina Western District Court in the Charlotte Office after they noticed the creatures crawling out of the vents and in and around the overhead compartments. The Presiding Judge to hear the case will be Graham Mullen and the plaintiffs have requested a jury trial.

Marsh and Rush claim that they took pictures of the creepy crawlies and reported their presence to the flight attendants. The suit claims that other passengers noticed the bugs, which caused those passengers to become upset. The couple said that they were ignored by the flight staff and even alleged that one of the flight attendants put her fingers in her ears when the couple tried to report the problem.

Marsh and Rush were forced to discard some of their clothing and wash others and their luggage for fear that the cockroaches had made their new home in their belongings. AirTran Airways denies the allegations, claiming that the corporation makes it a priority to keep its planes clean and safe for passengers. AirTran also alleges that it regularly cleans and inspects all aircraft for bugs and other pests.

The lawsuit argues that the airline is liable for negligence and recklessness, plus intentional infliction of emotional distress, fraud, false imprisonment, and unfair and deceptive trade practices. Marsh and Rush are seeking in excess of $100,000 in damages in addition to the cost of their airline tickets. To succeed on their negligence claim, Marsh and Rush will have to demonstrate that the airline owed a duty to their passengers to keep them in a safe and comfortable environment and that the airline breached that duty when it allowed the cabin of the airplane to be infested with cockroaches. The couple also has to prove that they have suffered some damages and that the airline’s breach of duty was the cause of those damages. If Marsh and Rush can prove their negligence claim, they will be entitled to compensatory damages, possibly even punitive damages if it can be demonstrated that the negligence on the part of the airline was gross negligence.

Though the cockroaches were plenty harrowing for the married couple, they could have faced ever worse. In recent years passengers have had to contend with pythons on planes, mice falling from overhead bins, scorpions on the loose and even an escaped cheetah in the cargo bay. Everyday cockroaches may seem positively boring when compared to such excitement.

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