Thomson plane crash lawsuit heads to Supreme Court of Georgia

Friday, December 7, 2018

ATLANTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) --- Two of the companies involved in lawsuits after a plane crash in Thomson will go to the Supreme Court of Georgia. The crash killed five employees from The Vein Guys. The plane crash as it returned from Nashville to the Thomson-McDuffie Regional Airport.

The lawsuit involves the manufacturing company Milliken & Company and Georgia Power. Earlier, the Georgia Court of Appeals upheld a lower court's ruling and ruled in favor of Georgia Power. Now Milliken & Company is taking their case to Georgia's highest court.

When the crash happened on Feb. 20, 2013, the small jet hit a Georgia Power transmission pole on Milliken's property and crashed. The families of the five passengers who died sued Milliken and Georgia Power on claims of wrongful death and personal injury damages. They alleged the transmission pole was put too close to the end of the runway, too high, and it encroached on part of the airport which caused the plane to hit the pole and crash. Milliken & Company asked Georgia Power to put up a power line of Milliken property back in 1988. This case centers around wording in that contract. It says, “[Georgia Power]…shall hold [Milliken]…harmless from any damages to property or persons (including death), or both, which result from [Georgia Power’s] construction, operation or maintenance of its facilities on said easement areas herein granted.”

Milliken claims Georgia Power is liable and Georgia Power claims Milliken is at fault.

The Supreme Court of Georgia will hear the case Monday, December 10, 2018.

Thursday, Feb. 16, 2017

AUGUSTA,Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) -- Donna McNully remembers well what she heard back in Feb. 2013.

"It's been a while since we have heard about it," said Donna McNully.

She was on her porch in her rocking chair.

"We were sitting out and just chillin," said McNully.

With McDuffie Regional Airport right up the street she's used to hearing planes overhead, but that night they heard what sounded like a bomb.

"It sounded like a big loud boom," said McNully.

The boom was a plane crash deep in the woods behind the Milliken plant into a couple's property. The crash killed a doctor and four employees with The Vein Guys.

"It was sad."

NTSB blamed the pilot back in 2014 for not knowing the aircraft well.

Several lawsuits are still going on between the groups involved in the crash four years after the crash.

A lawyer for the Vein Guys, Jim Ellison, tells us the medical practice and the city and county resolved their case in a confidential settlement.

Lawsuits are still pending against Georgia Power and Milliken across the street from the airport.

"I hate it for the families that they are still having to go through everything."

The city manager in Thomson told us he had no comment and referred us to the county's lawyer.

Thursday, Feb. 16, 2017

THOMSON, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) -- A plane crashed in Thomson back in February 2013 and parts of a lawsuit filed after that crash have been settled.

The plane crashed deep in the woods behind the Milliken plant on property owned by a couple who have lived there for 45 years. They were both home when the whole thing happened on Feb. 20, 2013.

The crash, which killed five employees from The Vein Guys, happened as a plane was returning to the Thomson-McDuffie Regional Airport from Nashville.

In October 2014, the National Transportation Safety Board blamed the pilot for not knowing the aircraft well enough and also points out his fatigue during the flight.

"As a result, five people died who did not have to. Just as pilots should not take off without enough fuel, they should not operate an aircraft without enough rest," said NTSB Acting Chairman Christopher A. Hart.

A factual report released in July 2014 showed one of the plane's wings clipped a utility pole while trying to land.

NTSB said the copilot verbally acknowledged the illuminated antiskid fail light, but the pilot continued to try and land. The Federal Aviation Administration-approved Abbreviated Pilot Checklist said the antiskid failure light would mean the plane needed a longer runway than the one at Thomson-McDuffie Country Airport. NTSB suggested the pilot should have found another airport to land the plane.

In September 2013, families of the fatal plane crash victims filed civil suits in Fulton County Superior Court over the crash.

Some of the defendants named are the estate of Vein Guys co-owner Dr. Mary Anne Roth, wife of Dr. Steven Roth who died in the crash, city of Thomson, McDuffie County, the Thomson-McDuffie Regional Airport, Georgia Power Company.

The Vein Guys' attorney, Jim Ellison, said a portion of the lawsuit involving the city and the county has been resolved. It was resolved in a confidential settlement. They resolved and decided the insurance carrier would contribute a dollar amount to airport coverage for the 2013 incident. It's under $4 million. The city agreed to the policy coverage as understood by the carrier that it would just cover a gas pipeline operation belonging to the city, according to city attorney James Westberry.

The policy was not written that way according to the city. They wanted it to cover all of the city's operations, including the airport. The court denied both motions.

The part of the suit involving Georgia Power and Milliken is still pending.