Melanie Lidle, Stephanie Stanger Will Try Again For $50 Million

On May 24, Cirrus Aircraft prevailed in a lawsuit stemming from the death of former New York Yankees pitcher Cory Lidle, whose SR20 flew into a 50-story luxury condo building in Manhattan during an attempt to turn his plane around over the East River in October of 2006. The accident killed Lidle and his instructor, Tyler Stanger, and injured three people on the ground.

SR20 File Photo

The incident prompted the FAA to shut down the Hudson/East River VFR corridor(s) temporarily, and impose tighter restrictions on its use afterward.

The NTSB determined the probable cause to be pilot error, noting a sudden loss of 300 feet of altitude just before the crash was likely caused either by a stall, or by an attempt by the pilot to get the nose of the aircraft down to avoid or recover from a stall.

Lidle and Stanger had life insurance policies valued at $1 million each, but there were millions in injuries and damages claimed by residents of the Belaire condominiums, so a group of plaintiffs sued the Lidle estate for $60 million. Lidle had a larger policy provided as a benefit by Major League Baseball, but it covered death in an aviation accident only if Lidle was a passenger, and the NTSB never did determine conclusively which man was acting as pilot in command.

So the widows, Melanie Lidle and Stephanie Stanger, filed a $50 million lawsuit against Cirrus. Their contention was that there must have been a defect in the aircraft which prevented the men from controlling it. The report of the NTSB's professionals was not allowed as evidence.

The jury didn't buy the premise, and decided Cirrus was not to blame. Now Bloomberg reports the widows filed last week to appeal the verdict. An attorney for the plaintiffs, Hunter J. Shkolnik, claims Cirrus was allowed to introduce numerous theories in its defense, while evidence brought by the plaintiffs to refute those theories was excluded. US District Judge Barbara S. Jones has been asked to order a new trial. Cirrus Aircraft has declined to comment.

The plaintiffs in the suit against the estates of Cory Lidle and Tyler Stanger settled for $2 million in 2007, after they discovered that was all the life insurance the men had, and neither estate had much else of value.

FMI: www.aero-news.net/news/genav.cfm?ContentBlockID=4FF086BB-A4CB-4463-BC51-8A8E0BEC92E3&Dynamic=1