perfidy

It's not often that you end up calling a widow nasty names. Mel Carnahan was the governor, whose son, Randy Carnahan, was at the pilot in command of a small plan a few years ago that went down. When the accident happened, Carnahan was in the middle of thoroughly trouncing John Ashcroft in an election.

There's a little background on Aero-News Network, if you care to read more. You can also read the complete NTSB brief.

The bottom line is this: Parker-Hannifin makes vacuum pumps. Jean Carnahan sued them, claiming they were responsible for the accident. Her theory was that the vacuum pumps stopped. About a year ago the NTSB (the National Traffic Safety Board) finished its exhaustive review of the accident. Their conclusion? The pilot failed to control to airplane properly, even though he had functioning, backup equipment. Very specifically, they found that the vacuum pumps were operating normally at the time of impact. In other words, the vacuum pumps did not fail. The NTSB can make this determination because they are able to gauge the angular momentum that the pumps have (due to spinning action) at the time of impact. They are very experienced in making these kinds of judgements, and they're not wrong about it.

The funny thing about NTSB reports is that, while they're by far the most authoritative and scientific study of transporition accidents, they're not admissible in court. The jury doesn't get the hear the official scientific opinion of on what happened. They're allowed to hear the ramblings of a trial attorney, who's paid an enormous sum to mislead them. And yes, misleading is exactly what's happened in this case.

Jean Carnahan is fully aware that her son was at fault in the accident. She is also fully aware that Parker-Hannifin's vacuum pumps did not fail in the accident. She pursued the case anyway, and has won a $4 million settlement from the manufacturer, after suing for over $100 million.

Jean Carnahan, you are a bad person. A lot of people are going to lose their livelihoods; these aviation companies are small, and these kinds of things are really hurtful to the industry. But you don't seem to give a shit about them, and it strikes me as pathetic that you honor the memory of your dead husband and son by lying in court for money. You are an example of exactly what is wrong with ethics in this society.

You suck.