On April 19, 2005, at approximately 6:23 p.m., plaintiff David Michelberg, 44, an electrical engineer, was a passenger with pilot Yaron Ekshtein in a Beechcraft Bonanza aircraft, which was in cruise flight near Paso Robles. The aircraft engine suddenly began to run rough. There were loud bangs, the cockpit filled with smoke, the engine’s number four cylinder departed the aircraft, and oil sprayed over the windshield.
The plane–which did not have shoulder harnesses–then crashed in a vineyard. Michelberg’s head struck the instrument panel.
The plane was powered by a six-cylinder Teledyne Continental engine. A few months before the crash, Aviation Classics Ltd. had removed and overhauled the engine’s number four cylinder. When reinstalling the part, the mechanic was supposed to fit an oil seal ring around the base of the cylinder where the cylinder mates to the engine case. The mechanic didn’t fit the oil seal ring as required; before doing so, however, the mechanic applied a Teledyne product called Gasket Maker to the oil seal ring. Gasket Maker is a gel-like substance that comes in a tube. Teledyne promoted the product for use “everywhere” on its engines as an effective way to prevent oil leaks.
Michelberg sued Teledyne for products liability (failure to warn). He sued Aviation Classics for negligence. Michelberg and Ekshtein were co-workers on a business trip, so Ekshtein was immune from suit by virtue of the Worker’s Compensation Laws.
Michelberg argued that the Teledyne maintenance manual was itself a product, and that its wording rendered the product defective. He also alleged that Gasket Maker causes engines to come apart during flight. He further claimed that Teledyne had knowledge of similar incidents involving other types of sealants, but did not add more effective warnings in its overhaul manual and did not make its instructions clear concerning the use of Gasket Maker.
Michelberg charged that the Aviation Classics mechanic negligently installed the cylinder.
Teledyne argued that its instructions did not call for the use of sealant in installing the cylinder, and that its warnings were sufficient to place a competent mechanic on notice of the hazards of using Gasket Maker on cylinder base O-Rings.
Aviation Classics conceded that the sealant should not have been applied to the cylinder base, and that its mechanic was not licensed by the Federal Aviation Administration. Aviation Classics argued, however, that Teledyne’s instructions were confusing even to a properly trained mechanic and so the instructions contributed to the error. Aviation Classics also argued that the engine failed not because of the sealant, but because of subsequent maintenance errors by others not named in the litigation.
The defendants also argued that the pilot was to blame because, after the engine failure, he passed by suitable airports in an attempt to reach the Paso Robles airport, but came up short.
Michelberg sustained skull fractures with bilateral frontal lobe contusions, and a traumatic brain injury. Although Michelberg appeared normal in his ability to eat, walk, and talk, he claimed that he lost his higher level of thinking, such as his judgment and his problem-solving ability. He also sustained a right orbital fracture, and he is blind in his right eye.
He was taken by ambulance to Twin Cities hospital in Paso Robles, and then transferred to Santa Clara Valley Medical Center, where he was admitted for approximately six weeks and underwent brain surgery and reconstructive surgeries on his face and skull.
In June 2005, Michelberg had two more surgeries for pneumocephalus. He received a VP shunt in November 2006. He has lived in residential care facilities since the accident and alleged that he will need lifetime care due to his cognitive defects. He said that he cannot return to work.
Michelberg sought $3,013,945 for past medical expenses, $19 million for a life care plan, $544,000 for past lost wages, $1,737,095 for future lost wages and an unspecified amount for past and future pain and suffering.
Michelberg’s wife, Rachel Michelberg, claimed loss of consortium.
The defense argued that Michelberg’s claim of future lost wages was speculative, that he needed no care or only “day programs” because he was fit to return home and live with family members, and that, if he needed a residential care facility, the lifetime costs of such care could be provided for less than $5 million.
The jury returned a $14,967,413 plaintiff’s verdict, finding that the overhaul manual failed to properly instruct on the installation of the cylinder, and that the mechanic negligently installed the cylinder.
The jury apportioned liability as follows: Teledyne, 35 percent; Aviation Classics, 55 percent; and Ekshtein, 10 percent.
David Michelberg
$3,013,945 Personal Injury: Past Medical Cost
$8,422,053 Personal Injury: Future Medical Cost
$544,320 Personal Injury: Past Lost Earnings Capability
$1,737,095 Personal Injury: FutureLostEarningsCapability
$250,000 Personal Injury: Past Pain And Suffering
$750,000 Personal Injury: Future Pain And Suffering
Rachel Michelberg
$250,000 Personal Injury: non-economic