Two Employees Of Tesla Motors Fatally Injured When Cessna 310 Went Down

Three lawsuits filed as a result of a February 17, 2010 accident in Palo Alto, CA, have been settled, court documents reveal. The accident resulted in the fatal injury of two employees of Tesla Motors. Terms of the settlements have not been released.

The accident occurred when pilot Douglas Bourn departed Palo Alto Airport in a heavy fog at 0755 PST despite being told by ATC he was not cleared for takeoff due to the restricted visibility. He was told by the controller that he was departing at his own risk. A few minutes after takeoff, the plane, a Cessna 310R, struck powerlines near an East Palo Alto neighborhood and went down among the houses about a half mile from the airport. There was a post-impact fire. Bourn, as well as passengers Brian Finn and Andrew Ingram who were employed by Tesla Motors, were fatally injured in the accident. No one on the ground was hurt, though there was some property damage due to the fire. The NTSB found that pilot error was the probable cause of the accident, though the board's reports are not admissible as evidence in court.

The Palo Alto News Online reports that Ingram's and Finn's families had filed the lawsuits against Air Unique, the company owned by Bourn, and the pilot's estate. They said that Bourn willingly undertook the flight in unsafe conditions. Lawyers for Bourn's estate tried in July to have the suits dismissed, saying that Tesla's worker's compensation plan covered their deaths. but that was not allowed by the court.

The trial had been set for November. The families have filed a request for case dismissals, which will be considered by the judge in January, 2013.

(Cessna 310 image from file. Not accident airplane)

FMI: Probable Cause Report