Families of 9 Skydivers Killed in Washington Plane Crash Sue

Seattle, WAIn October 2007, nine skydivers from Washington were killed when their plane that was flying in icy conditions crashed into the cascades. Now their families are suing Cessna Aircraft Co. to make sure they never fly their planes in such hazardous conditions again.

Also named in the lawsuit on behalf of five of the families is Goodrich Corp and the other four families are expected to be brought in on the case in a matter of weeks.

On October 7, 2007, nine skydivers from the Snohomish area were killed when their plane crashed into the Cascade Mountains near White Pass in what is considered to be the deadliest plane crash in the United Sates in 2007. The plane had been reported missing after it did not show up at an airport in the Shelton area. Later, it was found that all nine skydivers and the pilot were all killed in the crash.

The airplane was on its way from Star, Idaho after a skydiving event and was on its way to Shelton in Mason County, Washington when it crashed into the mountains, killing all of those on the plane.

There have been previous warnings that the model of Cessna that crashed with the nine skydivers has wings that freeze up in very cold conditions. Now the families feel that they must sue in order to keep the Cessna on the ground. The lawsuit is most likely going to be tried in combination with four other crashes that have occurred in various places around the world. According to the National Transportation Safety Board, since 2000 there have been 52 crashes involving the Cessna Caravan.

However, in response to the lawsuit that is working to get the Cessna 208B out of the sky, Cessna claims that its plane is perfectly safe. The attorney for the plaintiffs states that too many planes have gone down in the past eight years and that too many people have died as a result.

Cessna says that the aircraft has been certified by the FAA to fly in icy conditions and that all aircraft are certified all the same because the requirements are the same. As far as Cessna issuing any more comments to the public, they state they cannot do so when litigation is pending.

The suits that have been filed were done between November 29 and January 28 with a law firm based out of Chicago, which also represents others in cases involving the Cessna 208B crashing in the United States, Russia, and Canada. Nevertheless, all of the cases have the same allegations and that is that the wings were not kept free of ice by special equipment designed to do so and that is what has caused the crashes.

The goal of the plaintiff's and their attorneys is to decertify the plane. The families of those killed in the crash in October have been pushing for the plane to be kept out of the air.

Crashes that have occurred in four countries are also being investigated in order to put together a single legal proceeding. What this means is that the October skydiver deaths will be combined with the other lawsuits regarding the Cessna 208B. These occurred in Manitoba, Texas, Canada, Russia, Moscow, and Bolivia.

The reason why the proceedings will occur at the same time is to give attorneys a chance to make their argument regarding the alleged failure of the icing equipment on the Cessna 208B just one time. After the proceeding findings are put together, the cases will be able to be tried in the courts in which they were filed.

By Ginger Gillenwater