Victims Families of Wrongful Death Airplane Crash Receive $15 Million
Four businessmen were killed when the Cessna 421B piloted by Mark Turek crashed just before landing at the Wheeling Illinois airport. According to reports from the National Transportation Safety Board ("NTSB") the airplane wasn't going fast enough to stop an engine stall. The wrongful death lawsuit was filed against the estate of pilot Mark Turek and Morgan Stanley alleging that Morgan Stanley used a nonprofessional pilot to fly employees to Illinois.
The lawsuit settled for $15 million prior to the case going before a jury. In cases like this, defendants like to minimize their potential exposure to large jury verdicts and the closer to trial the case comes, the more likely a settlement. The wrongful death case was filed in Cook County Illinois and Chicago area juries are known to award larger amounts than cases in other parts of Illinois. Small airplane crashes like this are also known to yield larger amounts in settlements because people who can afford to fly in private small aircraft usually make large amounts of money and therefore their estates will sue for more money in lost revenue to the estate.
The four people who died in the airplane accident were pilot Mark Turek, a senior financial adviser with Morgan Stanley; Michael Waugh, general manager for Shaw's Crab House in Schaumburg; Sybaris Pool Suites founder Ken Knudson and financial adviser Scott Garland.
