F-15 Pilot Sues Boeing for Damages
St. Louis Post-Dispatch | By Steve Giegerich | March 24, 2008
A Missouri Air National Guard pilot filed suit this week in U.S. District Court, claiming Boeing Corp. "should have known" the F-15C Eagle that broke in half during a training mission last November was "defective and unreasonably dangerous."
Maj. Stephen Stilwell suffered severe injuries when he bailed out of the F-15C over rural Dent County, in south-central Missouri, on Nov. 2.
A native of Chillicothe, Mo., Stilwell, 37, was based with the 131st Fighter Wing at Lambert-St. Louis International Airport.
After the accident, the Air Force grounded more than 300 older model F-15s after finding cracks in some planes and parts that didn't meet safety specifications in others.
The older planes were built by McDonnell Douglas Corp. of St. Louis before the company's 1997 sale to Boeing.
"Boeing knew or should have know that the F-15 as manufactured allowed and permitted for catastrophic flight break-up," said Stilwell's suit, filed by attorney Morry S. Cole.
Stilwell also claims the manufacturer failed to notify the Air Force and Missouri Air National Guard of "the likelihood of excess stress concentrations, fatigue cracking, structural failure and in-flight aircraft break up as a result of the structural deficiencies."
In a December interview with the Post-Dispatch, Stilwell said he managed to eject from the plane despite smashing his left shoulder and arm as the aircraft began to fishtail out of control at 18,000 feet.
His injuries, Stilwell said, required doctors to insert a 10-inch metal plate in the injured arm and shoulder.
Stilwell, who flies commercially for Southwest Airlines, said he has suffered from chronic pain since the accident.
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