PA-32 Went Down In Heavy Fog Near JAX; All Four On Board Were Lost

A federal judge in Jacksonville (FL) ruled Tuesday that the FAA was partly responsible for the crash of a Piper PA-31 Cherokee in 2001. All four people on board were killed.

The aircraft, which had departed Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport, went down in heavy fog after the pilot, lawyer Don Weidner, executed a missed approach. The Cherokee (file photo of type, below) crashed in woods so thick that it took recovery teams 16 hours to reach the wreckage

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Weidner, fellow attorney Thomas Bowden, and their friends, Jim and Adrienne Abrisch, were killed in the accident.

At the end of a non-jury trial on Tuesday, federal judge Timothy Corrigan ruled that the FAA was 65-percent responsible for the accident because controllers failed to give Weidner current weather information. The judge assessed 35-percent of the blame on Weidner himself for failing to consider other options after executing missed approaches at both his destination, St. Augustine, and his alternate, Craig Airport in Jacksonville.

The NTSB found that the accident was probably caused by pilot error and spatial disorientation. Lawyers for the FAA contended Weidner was adversely affected by the over-the-counter cold medicine he was taking.

Judge Corrigan, however, said that the temporary tower, where JAX controllers were operating at the time, was improperly set up. He also ruled that there had been a communications failure forcing controllers to use their Nextel radios instead of the primary communications system.

The FAA refused comment on the ruling.

No damages were awarded at Tuesday's trial. A separate federal court proceeding will determine whether such damages are appropriate and if so, how much.

FMI: www.faa.gov