Man hurt in Teterboro Airport crash will sue Port Authority
DRIVER WAS HOSPITALIZED
Published in the Asbury Park Press 02/23/05
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
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NEWARK -- A driver injured when his car was hit by a jet that shot off a runway at Teterboro Airport plans to sue the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, arguing that safety barriers at the end of the runway could have stopped the out-of-control corporate jet.
The lawyer for Rohan Foster of Paterson said he plans to file the lawsuit Thursday in Superior Court in Passaic County.
Foster underwent surgery for injuries he received in the Feb. 2 crash after the jet, which aborted a takeoff attempt, sheared the roof off his car. His passenger, James Dinnall, was also injured and remains hospitalized in critical condition.
The plane's pilot, John Kimberling, told federal transportation investigators that when he tried to lift the nose of the aircraft, the controls appeared to jam and the plane would not respond, forcing him to make a split-second decision to abort the takeoff.
Kimberling then said he hit the brakes, deployed the plane's reverse thrusters and tried to steer the jet toward where it do the least amount of damage.
The Bombardier Canadair Challenger CL-600 aircraft crashed through a fence and slid across Route 46, striking Foster's car, and buried itself in the wall of a warehouse across the street. No one was killed, but 20 people, including several on the ground, were injured.
"Was this an accident that might have been prevented if Teterboro Airport was equipped with the same preventative equipment that other airports in the metro area have?" asked Alan Schnurman, Foster's lawyer.
"The last thing Mr. Foster remembers seeing was the wing of a plane coming toward him," Schnurman said. "Fortunately he ducked seconds before the plane sheared off the roof of his car, probably saving his life. The memory of that awful moment and the implications of what might have been remain with him all the time."
The morning of the accident, acting Gov. Codey said the agency should consider installing soft foam arrester cushions at Teterboro, as is done at John F. Kennedy International and LaGuardia airports.
Tony Ciavolella, a spokesman for the Port Authority, declined to comment on the expected suit, but said Teterboro meets Federal Aviation Administration safety standards. The bistate agency is studying the issue of planes overshooting runways, but has not reached any conclusions, he said.
"We have the same concerns that Gov. Codey and the local elected officials around the airport have," he said. "Safety remains the No. 1 priority."