Record Verdict for Loss of Society Upheld On Appeal

The lawyers' take:

The family of a Chicago area co-pilot, killed when the pilot lost control of a corporate jet during takeoff and crashed at Palwaukee Airport in Wheeling (IL) in 1996, will finally receive $23.5 million -- the $18.9 million a Cook County jury awarded them in their lawsuit against Aon on January 24, 2001, plus interest that now totals over $4.6 million. The Illinois Supreme Court Monday rejected Aon's final appeal of the award to the family of Robert "Hamp" Whitener, then 50, a corporate pilot for Alberto-Culver who was acting as co-pilot of the company's Gulfstream IV jet when it crashed shortly after take-off.

The award is the largest loss-of-society award ever upheld on appeal in Illinois. Loss of society is the mutual benefit that each family member receives from the other's continued existence, including love, affection, care, attention, companionship, comfort, guidance and protection.

The plane was piloted by an Aon pilot, Martin Larry Koppie, under an agreement the two companies had to share each other's planes. In addition to the two pilots, Arthur Quern, the CEO and Chairman of the Board of Aon Risk Management, and flight attendant Catherine Anderson were also killed in the crash of the Alberto-Culver plane.

Now, Get This...

The case received widespread national media coverage and focused public attention on the hazards of corporate jets and small airports. Private airfields, which are often located near residential and business areas, have few of the safety and design features of commercial airports, such as radar and enough land for pilots to abort problem take-offs. The Aon plane in this case was airborne a few feet over Hintz Road, skidded across busy Wolf Road and crashed 50 feet from an apartment building. The incident involved in the mid-air crash that killed WGN radio personality Bob Collins struck a suburban hospital.

"Private airports can be a real danger to pilots, passengers and the public," said Jerry A. Latherow, the Whiteners' attorney. "The design of the runways and the lack of radar at many of these airfields is simply an invitation to disaster."

Palwaukee Airport had a ditch next to the runway, which stripped off the plane's landing gears during take-off. In the re-trial of the Aon pilot's case earlier this year, a jury found the airport to be 90% responsible for the crash due to the placement of the ditch.

Witnesses testified that as Koppie was attempting to take off, the plane skidded off the left side of the runway, barely cleared a fence at the end of the airfield, bounced over Hintz, skidded across Wolf and crashed, exploding into flames. A coroner's report indicated that Whitener survived the initial crash and died from burns and smoke inhalation as he tried to escape the wreckage.

Whitener's wife, Teresa and their two children, a girl, now 16, and a boy, now 14, today live in Pennsylvania. The boy has expressed interest in being a pilot, with the support of his family. The girl plans to attend college next fall.

Latherow said the family was grateful to Whitener's employer, Alberto Culver and their President and CEO, Howard Bernick for providing financial assistance to the Whiteners which helped them during the last seven years when Alberto Culver had no obligation to do so.

Latherow tried the case with Charles A. Porretta, of Chicago's Latherow & Porretta.

And Then There's This:

In declining to hear the appeal, the Supreme Court let stand the jury award for the family, $18,946,749. Statutory annual interest of 9% is automatically added, increasing the award by $1,705,000 each year, for a final judgment of over $23,500,000. Aon had appealed the jury's verdict on various grounds. Although the NTSB had concluded there was nothing wrong with the plane, Aon contended that the plane's rudder or steering malfunctioned during takeoff. The NTSB conclusions were inadmissible during the two month trial.

FMI: www.aon.com