Clifford Law Offices Obtains $12.6 Million Settlement of 1996 Verdict for Pilot Killed in Palwaukee Air Crash Case

Clifford Law Offices obtained final approval today (Aug. 6) of a settlement for $12.6 million in satisfaction of a jury verdict returned on May 5, 2003, in the amount of $10.45 million dollars in favor of the family of pilot Larry Koppie killed when a private jet crashed during takeoff at Palwaukee Municipal Airport on Oct. 30, 1996.

Richard F. Burke, Jr. and John T. Karnezis, partners at Clifford Law Offices, obtained the verdict following a trial in 2003 in which the jury found the owners of the Airport, the Village of Wheeling, the City of Prospect Heights and the Palwaukee Municipal Airport Commission 90 per cent responsible for the crash. Koppie, 53, was one of the pilots in a Gulfstream IV jet aircraft which crashed moments after deviating from the center line in heavy winds and entering into a ditch that ran alongside the entire length of the one mile Runway 16/34. Koppie, and co-pilot Hampton Whitener, an employee of Alberto-Culver Company, which owned the aircraft, were each found 5 per cent responsible.

Aviation industry standards required that the Airport owners maintain alongside the paved runway a Runway Safety Area in a firm condition for the safety of planes diverging from the runway. The soft and soggy ditch caused major structural damage to the aircraft, including the loss of both main landing gear, wing flaps and an aileron control cable. The aircraft briefly became airborne after it was launched by an earthen berm, which also should not have been located in this Runway Safety Area. The plane burst into flames as it crashed to the ground next to an apartment complex across the street from the airport property.

Today’s settlement for $12.6 million culminates a long history of litigation in both the trial and appellate courts. The Airport defendants appealed the jury’s verdict, but the Illinois Appellate Court affirmed the decision on March 12, 2007. Thereafter, the Airport Defendants’ Petition for Leave to Appeal to the Supreme Court of Illinois was denied.

Defendant, Alberto-Culver Company settled its portion of the jury’s verdict with payment of $450,000 in a prior agreement reached in December, 2005, making the total compensation obtained by Clifford Law Offices for the Koppie family in excess of $13 million.

"The family of Larry Koppie is very gratified that all phases of our judicial system have recognized that the Airport owners and operators had substantial responsibility for this tragic occurrence," said trial attorney Burke. "The unfortunate irony of this occurrence is that the ditch was located exactly where aviation standards called for the presence of a flat and firm Runway Safety Area because planes are known to occasionally veer off the paved surface, both during landing and on takeoff," added Burke.

Koppie, formerly of Elgin, was employed by AON Aviation, Inc., which had an agreement with Alberto-Culver Company to share use of the companies’ respective corporate jets. Koppie is survived by three children, including his son Devin, who also pilots corporate jet aircraft