The lawsuit over the fatal crash of Yankee pitcher Cory Lidle’s Cirrus has been settled.
Lidle, 34, and his flight instructor Tyler Stanger, 26, were killed Oct. 11, 2006, when their Cirrus crashed into the 39th and 40th floors of a Manhattan high-rise. Several apartments were damaged and 16 people were injured in the crash. A slew of claims for property and personal injury were filed, totaling almost $60 million.
According to the New Jersey Law Journal, the claimants accepted just $2 million because Lidle and Stanger had $1 million liability policies each, and the estates had no other assets worth pursuing.
The $2 million will be split among insurance companies that paid $16.5 million to property owners and five personal injury plaintiffs. One personal injury claimant chose not to accept the settlement.
Lidle and Stanger were flying in a VFR corridor over the East River when the accident happened. The corridor requires pilots fly no higher than 1,100 feet. They were attempting to turn around when the Cirrus SR20 hit the building.
The National Transportation Safety Board investigated the accident and determined that the crash was caused by the pilot’s poor planning, lack of airmanship and misjudgment of the 180° turn, but could not determine which pilot was flying at the time of the accident.
Lidle, who earned his private pilot’s license in 2005, owned the Cirrus.
Lidle’s widow and Stanger’s estate have filed a product liability suit in California against the aircraft’s manufacturer, Cirrus Aircraft. The lawsuit alleges that the flight controls of the aircraft malfunctioned, leading to the crash.