July 24, 2012

Successful Settlement Reached in Guatemalan Aircraft Crash Case

A confidential settlement in a Guatemalan aircraft crash case that killed several Utahans and catastrophically injured others against Dallas Airmotive, Inc., and Pratt & Whitney was reached shortly before trial.

Previous agreements were reached with the airplane's owner and operator, Aereo Ruta Maya, SA. Alan W. Mortensen and Edward B. Havas represented one of the survivors of the crash and the families of 2 of the deceased victims. Mr. Mortensen and Dustin Lance represented the families of the pilot and co-pilot of the airplane who perished in the crash. Dallas Airmotive, a Texas Company (part of the BBA Aviation family), was one of the maintenance providers, and Pratt & Whitney, a Canadian Company, was the manufacturer of the PT6A-114A turbo-prop engine on the Cessna 208B Caravan plane that crashed in 2008 due, in part, to in-flight engine turbine blade failure. The crash killed 11 and injured 3. Twelve of the victims were on a humanitarian trip with Utah based company, Choice Humanitarian.