Latest news with #productliability
The Independent
10 hours ago
- The Independent
Army widow sues Boeing for husband's death in ‘uncrashworthy' Apache helicopter disaster
The widow of a U.S. Army aviator who died when his AH-64 Apache attack helicopter crashed on a training mission claims her husband would still be alive if Boeing had simply been honest about the chopper's purported ''enhanced' and 'unmatched' survivability features.' In a gut-wrenching product liability lawsuit obtained by The Independent, Kiara Sotelo Wayment accuses Boeing of overselling the Apache to the military as perfectly safe, when in fact it 'lack[s] adequate crashworthiness.' Specifically, Sotelo Wayment's complaint says whoever is in the forward gunner's position — where 32-year-old Warrant Officer 1 Stewart Duane Wayment was seated during the fateful 2023 exercise — becomes especially vulnerable in an accident. In the Apache, which is operated by a two-person crew, the pilot sits behind the gunner. '[T]he crash at issue was survivable, and the pilot in the back in fact survived,' the complaint continues. '[Wayment] perished because the Helicopter at issue and its components were defective and dangerous.' Among other things, the layout of the front cockpit is particularly dangerous in a frontal impact crash, according to Sotelo Wayment's complaint, which also places a portion of the blame for her husband's death on the Apache's seat belts and the flight helmet he was wearing. Attorney Joshua Haffner, who is representing Sotelo Wayment, said the front-seat issue came to light after a 'very elaborate process with the military to get access to the helicopter' in which Wayment went down. 'I don't think these guys know how much more dangerous it is up there for them,' Haffner told The Independent. Two years later, Wayment's family remains 'devastated,' according to Haffner. 'It changed their life completely,' Haffner said. 'Stewart was a great guy.' Boeing said on Wednesday that the company 'does not comment on pending litigation.' In an email to The Independent, a spokesperson for co-defendant BAE Systems, which supplies the Apache's seating and safety harnesses, said 'we offer our deepest sympathies to the families impacted by this tragedy' but declined to comment further, citing ongoing litigation. A spokeswoman for helmet maker Elbit Systems, which is also named as a defendant in the suit, cited a 'standing policy where we don't comment on pending litigation.' The Army, which is not named as a defendant in the suit, also declined to comment to The Independent amid an active court case. On April 27, 2023, Wayment's Apache was among a group of 14 aircraft from the 1st Battalion, 25th Aviation Regiment flying back to Fort Wainwright in Fairbanks, Alaska after a two-week exercise at the Donnelly Training Area, about 80 miles away. Weather conditions that day were good and visibility was clear, the Army said. Roughly 48 minutes into the journey, near the town of Healy, Wayment's chopper and a second Apache were heading through a mountain pass, some 250 feet above the ground, when the two lost sight of each other, according to a 385-page report later released by the Army Combat Readiness Center. After one of the Apaches increased its airspeed, it hit the main rotor blades of the other, the report said. Both helicopters then slammed into the side of a mountain, killing Wayment, a father of three young boys, but not the pilot at the controls behind him. The two members of the flight crew in the second Apache, Chief Warrant Officer 3 Christopher Robert Eramo and Chief Warrant Officer 2 Kyle D. McKenna, also died in the collision. Broadly speaking, the AH-64 Apache 'is a dangerous and defective product with respect to the gunners seated in the front cockpit in a frontal impact crash,' states Sotelo Wayment's complaint, which was filed initially in state court in Arizona, where Boeing builds the Apache, and removed to Arizona federal court on June 12. For starters, the Apache's forward cockpit contains an Electronic Display and Control system, or 'TEDAC,' positioned directly in front of the gunner, according to the complaint. However, as the TEDAC lacks any sort of padding, it 'poses a significant risk of death or injury from a frontal impact,' the complaint alleges. It says the Apache's seats and safety harnesses, from BAE Systems, do not 'adequately restrain the head, causing neck and/or head injury on frontal impact.' Additionally, the lap belts pose an 'unreasonable risk of coming into the stomach causing injury, a process known as submarining,' which can cause all manner of extremely grim outcomes. Third, according to the complaint, the Elbit Systems helmet Wayment was wearing at the time was not designed to properly mitigate the effects of a crash. In all, Boeing, BAE Systems, and Elbit were 'negligent and provided a defective aircraft and components resulting in [Wayment's] death,' the complaint argues. Wayment, a Utah native, began his military career in the National Guard but later enlisted full-time in the Army, according to a fellow servicemember who knew him. To Wayment, his family 'was absolutely everything to him,' Samuel Malachowski told a local ABC affiliate shortly after the fatal incident. 'He looked forward to getting home to see them each day and being with them, spending time with them and making good memories,' Malachowski said. 'That was everything he lived for.' In 2024, the Army reported three Apache crashes over a span of just eight weeks. Earlier this month, a gunner assigned to the Army's 101st Combat Aviation Brigade at Fort Campbell, Kentucky was killed when the Apache he was co-piloting crashed during a routine training mission. Sotelo Wayment is seeking compensatory, general, and special damages from Boeing, BAE Systems, and Elbit over her husband's Apache crash, saying his death has deprived their family of his love, care, comfort, support, society, attention, services, consortium, companionship, assistance, protection, and affection, plus punitive damages, lawyers' fees, and court costs. GoFundMe campaign launched by a friend of Wayment's in the aftermath of his death raised a little over $42,000 of its $600,000 goal. The military, in most instances, is immune from lawsuits, according to Haffner. But, he said, 'when there is a dangerous product, there is an avenue for recovery.' 'We want our soldiers to be safe,' Haffner told The Independent. 'That's what this case is about.' The three companies have until July 3 to file their responses to Sotelo Wayment's complaint.
Washington Post
04-06-2025
- Automotive
- Washington Post
This popular gunmaker persuaded N.H. lawmakers to protect it from lawsuits
A new law will shield the gunmaker Sig Sauer from being sued in its home state of New Hampshire by people who allege its pistol design is defective and has caused them injury — a victory that demonstrates the power of the firearms lobby in the face of high-profile lawsuits and calls for greater accountability. The firearms manufacturer, which is based in Newington, faces dozens of lawsuits from gun owners across the country who say their Sig Sauer P320 pistols fired without anyone pulling the trigger. The manufacturer has been sued at least 77 times in New Hampshire, according to the company, as well as in other states. A Sig Sauer lobbyist, at a New Hampshire legislature hearing in April, asked lawmakers for help to stem the lawsuits. The company has argued that the complaints were without merit and that fighting them was draining money from one of the state's largest manufacturers — which could, by extension, hurt local jobs. Weeks later, New Hampshire lawmakers granted firearms manufacturers protections in 'any product liability action' in the state from specific defect and negligence claims rising from a gun's lack of an external mechanical safety — in an amendment to a broader firearms bill that was swiftly passed and then signed by Gov. Kelly Ayotte (R) on May 23. The governor, who did not publicly comment upon the bill signing, did not respond to a request from The Washington Post. Many lawsuits against gun manufacturers are brought in federal, rather than state, courts, and one state lawmaker who is critical of the bill said he doubts the New Hampshire legislature has the power to limit federal lawsuits. But Republican state Rep. John Sellers, a co-sponsor of the bill, said it was necessary because the number of lawsuits against Sig Sauer was becoming unreasonable. 'We're trying to protect them because they're a major employer — not just Sig Sauer, but Ruger, too,' Sellers told The Washington Post, noting that Connecticut-based firearms manufacturer Ruger also operates a large facility in New Hampshire. 'We don't want to have so many lawsuits that it kills the corporation and makes it go bankrupt.' Sig Sauer did not respond to requests for comment. In 2023, The Washington Post and The Trace found that at least 80 people, including police officers, had alleged that they had been shot by their Sig Sauer P320 pistols. Many who filed lawsuits against Sig Sauer said the guns fired without having their triggers pulled, often while holstered, sending bullets into their legs, hips or groins without warning. Last year, Sig Sauer was found liable in two cases, in Pennsylvania and Georgia, in which juries awarded the plaintiffs millions. The New Hampshire provision doesn't affect the P320 cases underway in courts there, but it will limit future cases in New Hampshire against Sig Sauer by state residents — and others trying to sue there. Out-of-state residents have filed suit against Sig Sauer in New Hampshire because it is more efficient; existing rulings in the state on the P320 issue mean a plaintiff could get their case before a jury faster, according to Bob Zimmerman, a lawyer who has represented more than 70 plaintiffs in lawsuits over the issue. New Hampshire Democrats, who are the minority in both chambers, roundly decried the provision as an example of Republican lawmakers putting corporate interests over residents. New Hampshire Senate Minority Leader Rebecca Perkins Kwoka said in a statement that shielding Sig Sauer from certain lawsuits in the P320 mechanical safety issue 'could, and should, be seen as legislative malpractice.' 'No company should be immune from liability when their product is defective — especially when it comes to the issue of gun safety,' she said. 'It is our job as legislators to put forth legislation that serves to protect our citizens and support our public safety workers — rather than shield billion-dollar corporations.' During the May 22 House vote on the bill, Democratic state Rep. David Meuse said, 'I'm not here today to try to litigate whether this particular weapon is safe. What I am here to try to do is stop us from passing a bill that will prevent gun owners who believe they have been harmed by a defective, unmodified product from having their day in court — which is exactly what this bill will do.' The provision's success is striking because it disadvantages New Hampshire residents for the benefit of a local company, said David Pucino, the legal director and deputy chief counsel for gun safety research and advocacy group Giffords. '[The law] doesn't protect Sig Sauer around the country in the dozens and dozens of cases where owners have been injured,' Pucino said. 'It just injures the people in New Hampshire.' Bobby Cox, vice president of government affairs at Sig Sauer and a Republican member of the South Carolina legislature, told New Hampshire lawmakers at the April Senate Judiciary hearing that the pistol's design is not defective. 'All these cases that we've seen with these guns, the gun has never been defective,' Cox alleged. 'It's been user error; it's been equipment associated with the gun.' Cox added that the lawsuits were 'becoming detrimental' to the company and portrayed them as 'out-of-state plaintiffs' attorneys … attacking in-state business.' Plaintiffs in cases against Sig Sauer have argued that the lack of a mechanical safety on the P320 is a manufacturing defect that has caused a known issue of unintentional discharges. The company has argued in court that the unintentional discharges were user error — and said the absence of a mechanical safety is a design choice that consumers can avoid by buying a firearm design with the features they want. Not everyone has a choice to carry a different weapon if they don't trust the design of the P320, said Zimmerman, the attorney. 'The majority of our clients are law enforcement. They are not, generally speaking, permitted to choose their service weapon; it's issued by the department.' 'It can be argued that other claimants can go to their home states and argue there, but residents in New Hampshire — law enforcement officers in New Hampshire — they don't have another option,' Zimmerman said. Firearm manufacturers have lobbied for protections from liability for years, and 32 states offer some form of immunity, according to Giffords. More recently, efforts led by Democrats in several states have sought to counter such efforts with legislation clearing the way for plaintiffs to bring civil lawsuits against gun industry entities. Since 2022, nine states have enacted such laws, according to Giffords. Rep. Albert 'Buzz' Scherr, a retired law professor and Democrat in the New Hampshire State House who opposed the bill, said he expects debates over the law's scope if a plaintiff tries to file a related case in New Hampshire federal court. The bill's language was 'abundantly unclear,' he said, and 'needs to be tested out and determined how broad the ban is, in case law,' he said. 'Can [the state legislature] limit anyone to accessing federal court? I don't think the state legislature has that power,' Scherr said. At the same time, he said, the Republican majority in both chambers likely feels emboldened to try to 'control anything having to do with guns, be it state or federal law.'
