Surviving victims of Union Vale plane crash sue plane manufacturers, pilot
The cause of a small plane crash that killed a Union Vale father in his home in 2019 and left one of his daughters with severe injuries was ruled as "not determined," though the family is claiming the plane equipment was faulty and the pilot negligent according to their lawsuits.
The small plane, which took off from Orange County Airport in Montgomery, landed at Sky Acres Airport in LaGrangeville on Aug. 17, 2019 to refuel. The pilot then headed for Republic Airport in East Farmingdale on Long Island. However, as the Cessna T303 model was taking off it experienced engine failure and struck the south side of a two-story home on South Smith Road resulting in the death of two people.
The victims included Gerard Bocker, who was inside the house with his two daughters, and Francisco Knipping-Diaz, a Woodmere, Long Island man, who was the plane's pilot. Four people were injured including two passengers. Hannah Bocker was severely burned and sustained internal injuries. Sarah Bocker also suffered injuries.
Both daughters and mother Barbara Bocker filed a lawsuit in the Supreme Court of the State of New York in Dutchess County claiming "the dangerous defects which caused this accident" were due to parts and equipment manufactured by various entities.
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"The Cessna (T303) has a twin engine and it was notoriously bad at performing with one engine out," said Thomas Gerard Cascione, the attorney representing Hannah Bocker and Barbara Bocker. He alleges that once one engine fails, it is hard to gain control of the plane.
However, the National Transportation Safety Board did not find a specific cause for the crash. The federal agency's final report stated the crash was caused by "a partial loss of engine power in both engines during initial climb for reasons that could not be determined based on the available information."
Was the plane at fault?
Hannah Bocker filed the initial lawsuit in 2019 against the estate of the pilot, Francisco Knipping-Diaz. Also named in the suit were Pegasus Aviation, and Sky Acres Enterprises, the airport in LaGrangeville, along with others who serviced the plane.
The lawsuit claimed the defendants were negligent and that the plane was implied to be "airworthy", "safe and fit for use" and could be flown safely when that was not the case.
Hannah Bocker, Sarah Bocker and Barbara Bocker, who is the administrator of the estate of Gerard Bocker filed a lawsuit on August 2021 against the Knipping-Diaz and Associates and Hergin Aviation, which manages Sky Acres Airport. Also included as defendants are those companies that manufactured parts, installed parts or inspected the plane.
The lawsuit claims that there were defects in the aircraft, its fuel system, engine and components, accessories, turbo charging system, oil system, hardware and firmware, and inadequate testing of the various components. Cascione said his team is still in the process of testing parts of the planes which are being stored in a warehouse.
Four of the companies have filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit claiming that the court does not have jurisdiction since they are out of state companies. Judge Hal B. Greenwald dismissed the motion against Continental Motors stating the equipment could be found in use in New York and the company did nothing to prohibit that from happening. The rest are still waiting on decisions.
The attorney for Continental Motors would not comment on ongoing litigation.
There is a stay in place until the appellate court makes a decision that prevents Cascione's team from testing the plane engines.
What went wrong
The NTSB's final report from Feb. 2022 stated that the pilot had "difficulty starting both engines over several minutes" while it was on the ground. Once the engine was running, the plane taxied to the runway and did not appear to stop for an engine run-up, which would have allowed him to check the engines before taking off.
A passenger noted that after liftoff, both engines lost partial power and that the engines did not stop, but they were not producing full RPM, the report explained. The pilot tried get control of the plane before it crashed in the Bocker house.
Both of the plane's engines were "severely" damaged and the investigation could not determine a reason for engine power loss. A fuel sample taken from the airport's fuel supply showed nothing unusual.
An autopsy of the pilot found atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease as a "contributing cause of death." While the report does say there was a risk of a cardiac event, a passenger noted the pilot was "awake and alert and attempting to fly the plane."
The NTSB investigation reported that the pilot's blood tested positive for cocaine use. The tests indicated that crack cocaine may have been smoked several hours before the flight and may have causes fatigue or inattention, especially if the individual was a chronic user. However, because of the mechanical issues and that no active cocaine compound was found in his blood, the substance was "unlikely" to have contributed to the accident.
Saba Ali: Sali1@poughkeepsiejournal.com: 845-451-4518: @MsSabaAli.
This article originally appeared on Poughkeepsie Journal: Plane manufacturers, pilot sued by Union Vale crash survivors
