Pilatus Aircraft Sued For 2009 Accident | Aero-News Network
Aero-News Network
RSS icon RSS feed
podcast icon MP3 podcast
Subscribe Aero-News e-mail Newsletter Subscribe

Airborne Unlimited -- Most Recent Daily Episodes

Episode Date

Airborne-Monday

Airborne-Tuesday

 Airborne-Wednesday Airborne-Thursday

Airborne-Friday

Airborne On YouTube

Airborne-Unlimited-07.14.25

Airborne-NextGen-07.15.25

AirborneUnlimited-07.16.25

Airborne-FlightTraining-07.17.25

AirborneUnlimited-07.11.25

Fri, Mar 23, 2012

Pilatus Aircraft Sued For 2009 Accident

Widow Of The Pilot Says Company Is Partly To Blame For The Butte Crash

Pilatus is being sued by the widow of a pilot who was flying a PC-12/45 (similar aircraft pictured in file image) which went down near Butte, MT, fatally injuring all 14 people on board. Janet Summerfield has also sued Martin Aviation Inc., in connection with the case.

The NTSB found that pilot error was the probable cause for the accident, but the Board's findings are not admissible as evidence in court.

The Billings Gazette reports that the complaint, filed in Butte district court, alleges that the airplane had a "defective fuel system" and other factors that made it "unreasonably dangerous." Martin Aviation in Santa Ana, CA is being sued for failing to properly maintain the airplane. Flight originated in California, and was enroute to Bozeman, MT, when the accident occurred.

The probable cause report indicated that the plane was overloaded and became unbalanced during the flight. It went down on approach to Butte airport.

The amount of the lawsuit was not specified.

FMI: http://co.silverbow.mt.us/departments/courts.asp 

Advertisement

More News

ANN's Daily Aero-Term (07.15.25): Charted Visual Flight Procedure Approach

Charted Visual Flight Procedure Approach An approach conducted while operating on an instrument flight rules (IFR) flight plan which authorizes the pilot of an aircraft to proceed >[...]

Aero-News: Quote of the Day (07.15.25)

“When l became the Secretary of Defense, I committed to rebuild our military to match threats to capabilities. Drones are the biggest battlefield innovation in a generation, >[...]

ANN's Daily Aero-Linx (07.15.25)

Aero Linx: Stearman Restorers Association Welcome to the Stearman Restorers Association. The Stearman Restorers Association is an independent “Not for Profit” 501C-3 Co>[...]

NTSB Final Report: Kjelsrud Gary Kitfox

Airplane Exhibited A Partial Loss Of Engine Power When It Was About Halfway Down The Runway Analysis: The pilot of the experimental amateur-built airplane was departing from his pr>[...]

NTSB Prelim: Cessna A150L

The Flight Path Was Consistent With Low-Altitude Maneuvering On June 18, 2025, about 0922 mountain standard time, a Cessna A150L airplane, N6436F, was substantially damaged when it>[...]

blog comments powered by Disqus



Change Display

Headlines Only | Headlines w/ Teasers | View Everything

Advertisement

Top Videos

Airborne-Flight Training 07.17.25: Dual Ignition C172, CFI-ATP Course, FAA Boss

Airborne 07.16.25: Guilty Droner, C-17 Comeback?, Hartzell Grows Again

Airborne-NextGen 07.15.25: Jetson One Rescues, X-Plane, Sat Refueling

See All

Advertisement

Podcasts

Advertisement

© 2007 - 2025 Web Development & Design by Pauli Systems, LC