Company Owned Aircraft That Went Down During Traffic Report

Well-known South Florida traffic reporter Paul Cavenaugh has settled his lawsuit against Air Coastal Helicopter. The company owned the aircraft from which Cavenaugh was doing his daily morning traffic report when a mechanical failure caused it to go down.

Both Cavenaugh and pilot Takayki Tanaka walked away from the autorotation landing which broke the tail boom off the aircraft and ruptured the fuel tank. But as time went on, Cavenaugh, whose real last name is Kasprzyk according to the Palm Beach Post, began to suffer chronic back pain and problems walking.

The NTSB listed the probable cause of the accident as "a loss of engine power due to an under-torqued air line fitting to the fuel control." Cavenaugh's attorney William Williams said the pilot should be given credit for missing power lines and bringing the aircraft down in an industrial park in Boynton Beach, FL.

The amount of the settlement was not disclosed. Williams said simply that Cavenaugh was "satisfied" with the settlement, and ready to move on. The case was slated to go to trial next week.

He is no longer employed as a traffic reporter in South Florida, however. His contracts were not renewed for reasons unrelated to the incident.

FMI: www.ntsb.gov