Dramatic Plane Crash Trial Ends Abruptly With Settlements
Sara Brown and John H. Kennedy

The legal saga of Alec Naiman, Jeffrey Willoughby and Jessica Willoughby vs. Cessna Aircraft Company ended abruptly this week, after the three 2005 plane crash victims accepted settlement offers.

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Jurors Notebook: Edifying and Electrifying
John H. Kennedy

A juror in the Cessna plane crash case said Thursday that the case was “a toss-up” and might have resulted in a verdict for either side had it not settled on the eve of jury deliberations.

The female Edgartown resident, who did not want to be identified by name, said the panel bonded during the monthlong trial but abided by the judge’s instructions to refrain from discussing the case or drawing any conclusions until all the evidence had been presented.

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Cessna Claims Pilot Error Caused Crash
Sara Brown

Cessna Aircraft Company began its defense this week in a civil trial over the 2005 crash of one of its airplanes at Katama, calling witnesses who defended the plane’s seat-locking system, raised questions about the pilot’s actions, and disputed future medical costs and lost income the pilot and passengers could incur.

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News Update: Friday, March 30 - Two Settle in Plane Crash Trial

Jeffrey and Jessica Willoughby, two of the plaintiffs suing Cessna Aircraft Company in a civil trial over a 2005 plane crash at Katama Airfield, have settled with the company and are no longer involved in the trial that has been underway in Edgartown for the past three weeks.

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News Update: Monday, Jan. 16 - Edgartown Flight Instructor Killed in Cape Cod Plane Crash

Brewster police chief Richard J. Koch Jr. said in a statement Monday that Oulton Hues, 73, of Norwood and Edgartown, and Robert Walker, 68, of Falmouth, were the victims who died in the single-engine plane crash in Cape Cod Bay on Sunday.

Mr. Hues was the pilot and a flight instructor; Mr. Walker was his student and co-owner of the plane, a Piper fixed-wing aircraft.

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Two Pilots Lost in Plane Crash Remembered for Good Deeds
Vanessa Czarnecki

A training flight that departed from the Vineyard ended in tragedy Sunday when the single-engine plane crashed into the icy waters of Cape Cod Bay, killing flight instructor Oulton Hues of Norwood and Edgartown and his student, Robert Walker of East Falmouth.

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News Update: Monday, March 12 - Plane Crash Trial Begins at Edgartown Town Hall
Sara Brown

A civil trial started today stemming from a 2005 plane crash at Katama Airfield, with jurors hearing from one of the crash survivors and taking a trip to the airfield to look at the plane’s wreckage.

The plane’s pilot, Alec Naiman, and his passengers, Jeffrey and Jessica Willoughby, are suing Cessna Aircraft Company in Dukes County Superior Court, claiming that the accident was the result of faulty rails on the pilot’s seat. Cessna is arguing that the crash was due to pilot error.

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Plane Crash Trial Involving Deaf Pilot and Passengers Poses Courtroom Challenges
Sara Brown

A civil trial stemming from a 2005 plane crash at Katama Airfield began this week, with jurors hearing emotional testimony from one of the survivors, venturing to the airfield to examine the plane’s wreckage and pondering technical evidence about key parts of the plane at the center of the case.

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Pilot in Plane Crash Testifies to Fuzzy Memories, Harsh Reality
Sara Brown and John H. Kennedy

Testifying in a crowded makeshift courtroom Thursday, the pilot in a 2005 plane crash at Katama airfield gave his account of the accident that left him confined to a wheelchair without the use of his legs.

“I remember at first my morale was very high,” Alec Naiman — who is deaf and was communicating through a sign-language interpreter — said of his subsequent hospitalization. “I was teasing everybody and flirting with all the nurses.”

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