G-V Landing Accident in West Palm Beach
On February 14, 2002, a $36-million Gulfstream (G-V) aircraft was involved in a landing accident. The corporate flight crew flying the plane took off from West Palm Beach but could not get the landing gear to come up. They decided to take the plane back for a landing. As they approached the landing threshold, they brought the power levers back to flight idle, but the braking spoilers on the wings deployed causing the plane to fall 60 feet to the ground. The landing gear was driven up through the wings, destroying the plane.
Both of the pilots walked away from the accident with minor injuries. The manufacturer immediately blamed the accident on pilot error. The pilots insisted that there was no warning of the danger.
Mr. Hill was the lead counsel for the owners and insurers of the G-V. The investigation of the accident revealed that a Gulfstream subsidiary had worked on the plane the day before the accident. During that work, the mechanics used popsicle sticks to disable the safety circuits of the weight-on-wheels (WOW) switches that controlled the arming of the spoilers.
Despite this evidence, Gulfstream continued to claim that the accident was the fault of the pilots for failing to following the warnings on the flight console. A detailed examination of the computer that operates the flight-control system was conducted. Mr. Hill deposed the designers and test pilots who developed the G-V flight-control system. Flight testing was performed to determine how the flight-control system reacted when the WOW switches were intentionally disabled.
This work resulted in a settlement for Mr. Hill’s client. As part of the settlement agreement, Gulfstream insisted that the terms of the settlement remain confidential.