State Supreme Court Reverses Dismissal of Product Liability Lawsuit for Defective Fuel Pump in Airplane Crash

The Minnesota Supreme Court has reversed a decision of the Court of Appeals in that state. The appeals court affirmed the decision of the district court, which granted judgment as a matter of law to Lycoming Engines. In this case, Mark Kedrowski claimed that a defective fuel pump was manufactured and distributed by Lycoming Engines, which caused the airplane he was piloting to lose power and crash.

Kedrowski was seriously injured. The high court held that the district court abused its discretion by excluding the opinion of Kedrowski’s sole expert witness who testified on causation.

At the jury trial, a verdict was signed by the jury in the amount of $27 million in favor of Kedrowski. Thereafter, the district court granted Lycoming Engine’s motion for judgment in this matter concluding that the opinion of Kedrowski’s sole causation expert lacked foundational reliability and that, without this opinion, Kedrowski’s claims failed.

The Minnesota Court of Appeals affirmed the trial court. However, the Minnesota Supreme Court reversed, holding that the court’s evidentiary exclusion was overly broad and an abuse of discretion.

The State Supreme Court remanded the case for a new trial on liability.

Kedrowski v. Lycoming Engines, A17-0538 (Minnesota Supreme Court, Sept. 11, 2019).

Kreisman Law Offices has been handling product liability lawsuits, catastrophic injury lawsuits, airplane crash cases, motorcycle accident lawsuits, truck accident cases and bicycle accident lawsuits for individuals, families and loved ones who have been injured, harmed or killed by the carelessness or negligence of another for more than 40 years in and around Chicago, Cook County and its surrounding areas, including Harwood Heights, Elmwood Park, Franklin Park, Bensenville, Elk Grove Village, Morton Grove, Wilmette, Rolling Meadows, Palatine, Long Grove, Half Day, Riverwoods, Glencoe, Northfield, Forest Park, Oak Lawn, Joliet, Aurora, Chicago (Near West Side, Little Italy, Greek Town, Bronzeville, Wrigleyville, Calumet Heights, Kenwood, Douglas, Logan Square, Avondale, North Center, Irving Park, Forest Glen, Norwood Park, Edison Park, Edgewater, Ravenswood, Bucktown, River North, Printer’s Row, East Pilsen, Fuller Park, Canaryville, Bridgeport), LaGrange, Western Springs, Stickney, Crestwood, Franklin Park and Frankfort, Ill.

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