Charles M. Finkel Cases of Note
Commercial Aviation:
Southwest Airlines Burbank
737 runs off runway injuring passengers.
Aero Mexico
Passenger injured by falling luggage.
Barbados
Landing gear collapses injuring pilot of commercial carrier.
American Airlines LAX
Smoke in cabin caused emergency landing and traumatic stress disorder to passenger.
Delta Airlines Las Vegas
Passenger injured by falling luggage.
China Eastern Airlines MD-II Aleutian Islands
Deployment of leading edge slats in cruise flight caused serious injuries to passengers.
Pakistan International Airlines Kathmandu, Nepal
Airbus crashes on approach killing all on board.
Skywest Airlines Palm Springs, CA
Severe turbulence injured passenger.
PSA En Route to Los Angeles
Turbine blades punctured passenger cabin causing traumatic stress disorder.
Northwest Airlines Japan to Los Angeles, CA
Passenger slipped on stairs of 747 causing significant injuries.
American Airlines Chicago, IL
DC-10 engine failure caused aircraft to crash.
General Aviation:
Vondra v. United States
Crash of Piper Arrow into mountainous terrain due to controller error.
Lonian v. Southern California Edison
Crash of Piper Arrow into power lines near Hesperia, CA.
Machowsky v. Ostrove
Fuel starvation caused crash of Cessna 177 on approach to Santa Monica Airport.
SAA v. Aero Engines
Defective carburetor caused crash of crop duster in Guatemala.
Tomigashi v. Matsumoto
Crash of Beech C-23 into apartment building due to exhaust system failure.
Copeland v. AOG
Crash of DeHavilland Beaver at Ketchikan, Alaska.
Tahmouressi v. Air Time
Crash of Rockwell Commander at Whiteman Airport killing all on board.
Koike v. Air Desert Pacific
Mid-air collision near Banning, CA.
Brown v. United States
Air Traffic controllers caused Piper Comanche crash in mountainous terrain.
Cessna 337
Crash of aircraft on aircraft on approach to Bullhead City, Arizona.
Rahgozar
Passenger in Robinson helicopter decapitated after deplaning.
Robinson R-22
Crash of helicopter on approach to landing in Virginia.
Hiller Helicopter
Passenger decapitated after “mast bumping” episode.
Various Cessna Cases
Several cases against Cessna involving vapor lock in 200 series aircraft.
Other Cases of Note
Zao v. Anderson & Howard Electric
Million dollar verdict in Orange County for car accident case involving soft tissue injuries.
Choti v. Mulliken Medical Center
Medical malpractice case involving death of 14-year-old boy resulting in $2.4 million verdict, one of the highest in country for child death.
Gonzalez v. State of California
Bicycle rider paralyzed due to gravel of roadway shoulder.
Hernandez v. Interstate Chemicals
Woman rummaging garbage cans hit by truck, resulting in a $500,000 settlement.
Burn v. Johnson & Johnson
Antibiotic Floxin caused ruptured Achilles tendons in elderly man.
Reitz v. McKay
At the time, one of the highest dental malpractice verdicts in California.
Charachuri
Head injury to pedestrian to pedestrian resulting in $2.3 million settlement.
Gomez v. L.A. Community College District
$770,000 verdict for pedestrian hit by car.
Jack v. Secretary of Health
Nursing student became deaf after Rubella vaccination.
Kauffman v. SCRTD
72-year-old woman killed by bus in pedestrian cross-walk, resulting in $664,000 verdict for 75-year-old surviving husband.
