Injured Soldiers Recover Damages
A federal judge has approved a $13 million settlement between two soldiers, Chief Warrant Officers Juan Beltran and Ron Carns, and the manufacturer of a defective helicopter gearbox which caused their aircraft to crash in 2003. Both men suffered major spinal injuries. Beltran is now a quadriplegic.
The U.S. Army is immune from liability under law, so the men sued Boeing, Honeywell, and two other manufacturers of the Apache Longbow helicopter’s gearbox, which drives the tail rotor, and its accelerometer, which should have warned them of the gearbox problem.
Federal law grants immunity to military contractors for design defects where the equipment is designed according to government specifications, but it was inadequate lubrication due to faulty manufacture, not poor design, which cause the premature failure of the gearbox after only 218 hours. It was designed to last 4,000 hours.
The accelerometer should have detected vibration, but was instead rendered inoperable by it.
Because of the immunity issues, it is extremely difficult for injured military personnel to successfully sue equipment manufacturers.
Apache Longbow helicopters have been the target of criticism for their ineffectiveness in combat, but continue to be used in Iraq and Afghanistan.