Reporter Saw Details Of $2.4 Million Agreement

A Florida newspaper has published what it claims are confidential details of the settlement of a lawsuit against NASCAR, related to the crash of the organization's Cessna 310R in Florida on July 10, 2007.

As ANN reported, NASCAR employee and pilot Michael Klemm died, along with Dr. Bruce Kennedy, the husband of International Speedway Corp. President Lesa France Kennedy, after reporting smoke in the cockpit and attempting an emergency landing at Sanford Orlando International Airport. The plane had been on a short hop from Daytona Beach to Lakeland.

Klemm and Kennedy didn't make it -- they were on approach when the plane reportedly veered right, hit a tree, then struck two homes in a subdivision called The Preserve at Lake Monroe. There were two severely burned residents and three additional fatalities on the ground.

Attorney Eric Latinsky represented the pilot's widow, Wendy Klemm, and the couple's three sons in a lawsuit seeking, in Latinsky's words, "...to make sure the Klemm children could continue their education and be taken care of... in light of losing Michael at such a young age, how would (the sons) be able to attend college in the future."

The Daytona Beach News-Journal reports it reviewed court documents indicating the three sons were ages 18, 21 and 23 at the time of the accident. The paper said its reporter also saw a handwritten note which read, "wrongful death claim approved," and an indication the settlement amount was $2.4 million, one week before the case file was sealed.

Latinsky declined to confirm the report, citing confidentiality. NASCAR officials were quoted as being unaware of settlement details.

An electrical problem with the plane's radar system, and a burning smell in the cockpit, had been reported a day before the crash. The NTSB has not yet issued its report on probable cause for the accident. NASCAR has issued its own 23-page report, discounting the probability that the radar system issue played a role.

Latinsky says that while the settlement ends any further litigation against NASCAR by the Klemm family, there could still be lawsuits against manufacturers. Two adults and a small child on the ground were also lost when the plane collided with the homes.

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