Cory Lidle, who passed away in a tragic plane accident in New York City in 2006, is now the subject of a lawsuit relating to his personal plane that crashed into a New York City apartment. His family is, according to a lawsuit filed by his agent, seeking more than $50 million in damages against Cirrus Design Corporation.Cirrus is the maker of the private plane that Lidle flew into an Upper East Side Manhattan apartment, and his family believes that the $50-plus million would be equivalent to Lidle's career earnings.
As Josh Alper phrased it at NBC New York, Jordan Feagan, Lidle's agent must have an "inflated sense of his own abilities as an agent," because, with all due respect to the late baseball player and his family, the logic that Lidle would have earned that amount of money seems a touch difficult to believe.
That doesn't mean Lidle's family is wrong for seeking damages though. There is a distinct possibility that this lawsuit is essentially an alternate form of a counter-claim or third party complaint that simply does not involve the exact same plaintiffs as another related suit; Lidle's family has been named in a civil case in California which seeks compensation from them for the damages caused during the accident.
The unfortunate reality, regardless of how this plays out, is that two lives were tragically lost and at the same time a significant amount of property was damaged. Those circumstances almost never end well in the court of public opinion, much less the court of law.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
3-10-2009 @ 12:06AM
belinskyfan said...
Nice headline ... except there's ah no airline involved.
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3-10-2009 @ 12:47AM
marshall said...
The pilot screwed up a hard turn. We dont even know for sure who the pilot was. If the family wanted money they should have bought insurance.
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3-10-2009 @ 1:37AM
jjjjjjjjjjjjjjjj said...
Both of you two are correct. What an ignorant headline. I'll bet they don't get a dime. There wasn't anything wrong with the plane. Too bad Cirrus can't sue the estate of both parties for making a safe airplane appear as if there's something wrong with the design.
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3-10-2009 @ 2:46AM
AC said...
Sounds like too many lawyers to me.
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3-10-2009 @ 6:52AM
shawncsh said...
I'm sure he had an insurance policy. Now his family wants more? Acccidents happen. That plane is in so many peices how are you going to blame it on the manufacturer? Are they really worried about the money or their passed relative? hmmmmm
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3-10-2009 @ 7:46AM
Anthony said...
There was never any indication that there was anything wrong with the aircraft when Corey Lidle flew it into the building, so the suit should be tossed out!! It was a tragic accident but by all reports it was an accident caused by Corey Lidle or the flight instructor and not the aircraft!!! The NTSB concluded in their report that the aircraft was not the cause of the crash.
Secondly, asking for 50 million dollars on lost wages? Lidle was never a good enough pitcher that he would received that much money for his services!!!!
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3-10-2009 @ 7:56AM
joehcpa said...
I liked Cory Lidle, and thought he pitched well for the Yankees, and am sorry he died. Unless there is evidence that the plane malfunctioned in some way this lawsuit seems a waste of the courts time. It seems to me the plane was working just fine until it hit the building. When will people start taking responsibility for the own actions and stop trying to blame their shortfalls on someone else.
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3-10-2009 @ 8:23AM
tcbgirl said...
Awful on all accounts!
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3-10-2009 @ 8:38AM
Big Blue said...
Maybe his contract did not allow him to be flying planes???
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3-10-2009 @ 9:41AM
tonymaner said...
It is possible that the pilot was at error. This is a family seeking money and money only. This is why our legal system is so confused.
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3-10-2009 @ 10:24AM
v1776d said...
Former yankee star Thurman Munson killed himself flying a Citation jet and his family won their lawsuit against Cessna. It's a case of my lawyer can beat up yours.
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3-10-2009 @ 12:19PM
kevin said...
He did not kill himself, It is believed that the inability to get out of the plane, and the ensuing asphyxiation, is what killed Munson, rather than injuries sustained on impact or burns. Munson's friends in the aircraft survived the accident. He was 32 years old. The crash was attributed to pilot error, according to the National Transportation Safety Board.
3-10-2009 @ 10:46AM
Kelly said...
I thought the accident was ruled pilot error. If anybody should sue it should be the family of the poor woman killed in her apartment. They should sue the estate of Lidle. They better hope I am not on that jury.
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3-14-2009 @ 3:06PM
carla ford said...
Let me get this straight, he flies a plane into a building that was just standing there minding it's own business and the manufacturer is at fault? The building should've ducked when it saw this flying object coming at it. I hope the family loses the lawsuit where they're being sued for damages and have to pay up.
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