Companies Had Accused The University's Employees Of Not Properly Securing The Aircraft

Ohio State University finds itself on the hook for a $45,000 payment for an airplane that was destroyed during a windstorm in 2012.

The plane, described in a story appearing in The Columbus Dispatch as a 1963 Cessna, was owned by Jump Planes which had leased it to Skydiving Columbus. The plane had been landed at Ohio State's Don Scott Field on June 29 ahead of a thunderstorm, and representatives from Skydive Columbus said they had paid Ohio State airport workers to tie the plane down before the storm, later determined to be a derecho wind storm, hit the area.

According to a lawsuit filed by the two skydiving companies, the workers tied ropes around the wings and the tail of the plane and secured them to the ground, but during the violent windstorm, the knots failed and the airplane flipped over onto its back. It was declared a total loss.

The companies had asked for $125,000 from the university, saying that not having a plane available for two months cost them that much revenue. Attorneys for the university said in court records that a pilot for the skydiving company had helped tie the plane down, and said that the airport “follows the appropriate standard of care for proper knot-tying.”

All parties finally agreed to a settlement that will provide $45,000 split between the two companies. OSU will pay $10,000, with the university's insurance company paying the balance.

FMI: www.osuairport.org