Notice has been filed of a potential $2,000,000 lawsuit “for injuries suffered by Marcelo Rugini and his resulting death” in a Nov. 16 airplane crash at Knox County Municipal Airport.
Nobleboro resident Jeffrey Spear, acting as personal representative for the estate of Brazilian farm worker Marcelo Rugini, has retained the services of Lewiston attorney Steven Silin and served notice to Knox County commissioners that he plans to claim damages.
In a Dec. 20 letter to Chairman Roger Moody and County Manager Andrew Hart, Silin said Rugini’s death was “proximately caused by the negligence of Knox County and its employees, agents or servants.”
Rugini, 24, of Muliterno, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil was a passenger in a Cessna 172 single-engine plane piloted by William “B.J.” Hannigan III, 24, of Portland.
Hannigan and David Cheney, 22, of Beverly, Mass., were also killed in the crash. All three were students at the University of Maine, where they were members of the Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity.
The Brazilian student, a friend and co-worker of the family that owns and operates Spear’s Farm, originally came to Maine on a farming internship and lived at the farm on Upper East Pond Road for seven years.
In its preliminary finding, the National Transportation Safety Board said Nov. 20, that the plane appeared to have been damaged just prior to the crash when it collided with a privately-owned pickup truck on a Knox County Regional Airport runway.
The driver of the pickup truck, Stephen Turner, 62, of Camden and an employee of Penobscot Island Air was not injured.
Silin said Jan. 8 that Maine law requires the filing of a Notice of Intent to sue a governmental agency within 180 days of the incident prompting such action. The law allows then for two years for a suit to be filed, following Notice of Intent.
“Our investigation is ongoing,” Silin said. “There are a number of potentially responsible parties, including Mr. Turner and the operation of the plane and the operation of the airport.”
Silin’s written claim states the crash was the result of negligence that included, “but was not limited to: failure to adopt and enforce adequate safety rules, regulations and guidelines for the operation, maintenance and use of its airport facilities and the safety of vehicles and/or aircraft being operated at the airport.”
He also claimed the county failed to train or warn those using the airport regarding safe procedures and said the runways and buildings are not properly designed, built and managed “to provide for safe passage of aircraft and vehicles being operated on or near runways.”
“The only reason we wouldn’t file a suit is if the parties react constructively to reach a fair conclusion,” Silin said Jan 8. “Clearly, Mr. Rugini was not responsible. This was an avoidable accident.”
He said the dollar amount stated in the letter was only there to fulfill a requirement of the Maine Tort Claims Act and that the actual amount of the judgment would be determined by a judge or jury or through a negotiated settlement.
Knox County Regional is a general aviation airport, one that does not have a traffic control tower. According to the National Business Aviation Association’s website at nbaa.org, general aviation pilots “are the single most prevalent contributor to the total number of runway incursions.”
“There were 1150 runway incursions in the 2012 fiscal year, ending Sept. 30, up from 954 total incursions in fiscal 2011 – a roughly 20 percent increase, according to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA),” the website states.
The FAA defines a runway incursion as “any occurrence at an aerodrome involving the incorrect presence of an aircraft, vehicle, or person on the protected area of a surface designated for the landing and takeoff of aircraft.”
“When taxiing, be aware of your location as it relates to the intended taxi route, other aircraft, and vehicles operating on the airport,” the FAA cautions pilots at non-towered airports.
The faa.gov website further states, “…in some cases, pilots may not communicate their presence or intentions when operating into or out of such airports. To achieve the greatest degree of safety, it is essential that all radio-equipped aircraft transmit/receive on a common frequency identified for the purpose of airport advisories.”
The FAA urges extreme caution in such situations.
“Pilots are not required to communicate or announce their position in the traffic pattern or on the surface,” the FAA Guide to Ground Vehicle Operations states. “As a result, a driver can be lulled into complacency because the airport is not very busy. Nevertheless, always remain alert for the unexpected, even when aircraft traffic levels are light.”
According to the NTSB report, Turner had brought his vehicle “to the hold short line of the runway. He announced his intentions on the common traffic advisory frequency using a radio in his vehicle, heard no response nor saw anything on the runway, and he proceeded to cross runway 31.”
According to the report, Turner “subsequently saw something grayish in color, continued to cross the runway, and then got out to inspect what he saw, at which time he observed an airplane attempting to climb.”
As Turner watched, the airplane drifted to the left of the runway and made a left turn as if attempting to return to the airport, the report states. “Subsequently, the airplane was then observed in ‘slow flight’ and then it began to ‘spin.'”
It is not known whether Hannigan had a radio on in the cabin at the time of the crash.
Silin said the runway lights could only have been triggered by the plane’s radio.
“They only come on if the plane is taking off or landing,” he said. “Yet there was a vehicle on the runway. That appears to be the dominant factor in this crash.”
Silin said he had no basis to think there was any mechanical problem with the plane. He said he has not ruled out pilot operation as a cause of the accident. “At this point, that is not the primary focus,” he said.
“You’ve got to think that, if you’re operating a motor vehicle in an airport where planes come and go, given the speed of planes, you should yield to planes with functional right of way.” Silin also said cars and trucks are more maneuverable than airplanes.
Silin said government standards call for vehicles crossing runways to have a light beacon. He said Turner’s truck did not have such a beacon.
