Speech on Anatomy of an Aviation Crash by Richard Burke

Richard F. Burke, Jr., partner at Clifford Law Offices, will be speaking at the Chicago Bar Association (CBA) on the Gulfstream IV Crash at Palwaukee Airport.

The three-hour long program on Tuesday, Feb. 10, will feature the trial attorneys who handled the litigation on both sides of the aisle.  Burke tried the case twice following appeals and it ultimately was resolved for $10.45 million for the family of a pilot killed in 1996.

Burke, along with partner John Karnezis, tried the five-week-long case in front of a Cook County Circuit Court jury.  The pilot along with three others were in the Gulfstream IV jet were killed when it crashed moments after starting to take off from the airport that is jointly owned by the Village of Wheeling and the City of Prospect Heights in Chicago’s northwest suburbs.

The plane was taking off for California when it suddenly veered to the left of the center line.  In going off the runway, the jet encountered a drainage ditch running alongside the entire length of the one-mile runway in an area where the terrain should have been flat and firm to support the plane without causing structural damage.  The aircraft crossed Hintz Road outside of the airport property and burst into flames as it came to rest near an apartment complex.

The CBA program, to be held 2-5 p.m., will offer insight and evaluation of the case on a trial and appellate level.  Analysis, decision making and presentation skills used by those in prosecuting and defending this aviation disaster will be demonstrated.

The program is presented by the CBA Aviation Law Committee and offers 2.75 hours of continuing legal education credit.