Jury Finds For Carnahans In Plane Crash Negligence Case

A jury in Kansas City has found airline parts manufacturer Parker Hannifin negligent in the October, 2000, plane crash that claimed the lives of Governor Mel Carnahan, his son Randy – who was flying the plane, and campaign aide Chris Sifford. The jury awarded $3-Million for the Governor and $1-Million for Randy Carnahan in compensatory damages. The Carnahan family’s attorney had been seeking $100-Million. He had argued that a pair of vacuum pumps manufactured by Parker Hannifin failed, causing the plane to crash. Lawyers for Parker Hannifin had blamed the crash on the failure of the pilot’s attitude indicator which tells a pilot whether the plane is on the right course.