Following a bench trial and the parties’ proposed finding of facts and conclusions of law, U.S. District Judge Mark G. Mastroianni of the District of Massachusetts Monday issued a decision in the case captioned Smith v. United States regarding federal tort claims stemming from the March 2019 crash. Mastroianni found the government 60% at fault for leaving the camouflaged helicopter parked on an active snowmobile trail without warning, while the Westfield, Massachusetts, attorney, Jeffrey Smith, was found to be 40% responsible for failing to drive the snowmobile in a safe manner.
“The court finds Jeffrey has met his burden of proving, by a preponderance of the evidence, that the Army crew were negligent in leaving the camouflaged helicopter on top of an active snowmobile trail at night, without taking any steps to warn or otherwise ameliorate the risk of an accident,” Mastroianni said regarding Smith’s negligence claims.
The court also found that the Army crew failed to supervise the helicopter after leaving it in a dangerous location, among other things.
The government argued that even if it were found negligent, Smith was contributorily negligent as he admitted during a criminal plea hearing that he was speeding, reaching nearly 65 mph when he realized the helicopter was in front of him. Mastroianni found that had he been traveling at a safer speed, he may have been able to avoid the crash or suffer lesser injuries, the opinion said.
Additionally, Smith was wearing tinted goggles and was found to be “slightly impaired” from the effects of alcohol, clonazepam and burprenorphine, the opinion said.
Since Smith was found less than 50% responsible, his recovery was not barred but reduced in proportion to his 40% fault. The judge awarded Smith a total of $6.4 million, including $2 million for past and future medical expenses; $1.8 million for loss of income; and $2.5 million for past and future pain and suffering. With the reduction for contributory negligence and a $550,000 settlement with a co-defendant, Donald Chase, Smith was awarded $3.3 million.
Smith sued the government under the Federal Tort Claims Act, 28 U.S.C. §2671, while his children and ex-wife brought loss-of-consortium claims for their loss of companionship. His son was awarded $100,000 and his ex-wife on behalf of their daughter was awarded $150,000.
The accident occurred in Worthington in western Massachusetts.
A medical evacuation company in the 10th Combat Aviation Brigade in the Army, 310 Charlie Company, sought to find a location for its pilot-in-command training mission at a smaller airfield. Chief Warrant Officer Benjamin Foster chose Albert Farms Airfield in Worthington as a landing spot for the helicopter.
The airfield, which hadn’t held flying activity since the 1990s, was used by the local community for recreational activities such as snowmobiling, bicycling and dog walking. Chase, the property owner, reportedly gave Foster permission to land anywhere on the airfield, but failed to mention that he also gave the Worthington Snow Mobile Club permission to use the land as a snowmobile trail.
Earlier that day, the U.S. Army flew its helicopter on a “low pass” over the airfield where the crew saw snowmobile tracks on the runway. The crew then encountered several snowmobilers who traveled near the helicopter and stopped to chat with them. According to the court, the Army crew left the helicopter unattended, then traveled more than 100 miles to a plowed parking area off the airstrip to socialize with Foster’s friends.
“During this time, no crew members were assigned to supervise the unlit and unmarked helicopter sitting directly on the snowmobile trail and none of them paid attention to it (although some of the crew testified unconvincingly that it remained in their sight),” Mastroianni said.
At trial, Smith argued through expert testimonies that it was not possible for him to see the parked helicopter because it blended in with the tree canopy and hills in the background once the sun went down. However, a visibility expert for the U.S. government, Dr. Ronald Gibbons, testified that the presence of alcohol in Smith’s system at the time of the crash and his tinted goggles reduced “the amount of light available to him” by his own fault, according to the opinion.
Smith, an avid snowmobiler, was knocked unconscious and suffered a punctured lung and head trauma as a result of the crash. While he testified that he did see the helicopter parked on the airfield the evening of his accident, he initially stated to officers two days after the crash that he never spotted it.
Due to his sustained injuries, Smith now only works an average of 10 hours per week due to his limited pulmonary capacity. His annual net earnings as an attorney dropped from $134,394 in 2018 before the crash to a loss of $5,671 in 2022.
The court found that it had subject-matter jurisdiction because the discretionary function exception to the FTCA’s waiver of sovereign immunity did not apply to the lawsuit. While the government argued that its decision to leave the helicopter unmonitored and unmarked was open to policy analysis because it involved possibly depleting its fuel supply, the court concluded that this “was not the only option available” for the Army.
Its decision regarding the parked helicopter in the middle of the dark airfield involved “garden-variety, common-sense steps to guard against a highly probable risk of harm created by the government,” according to the court.
The Army also ignored a near-accident shortly before Smith collided with the helicopter, as fellow snowmobiler Mike Martin narrowly avoided the helicopter’s tail riding his vehicle between 30 and 60 miles per hour. Martin testified that there were crew members near the aircraft and he “could have walked right in and taken the thing if [he] knew how to drive it.”
“Primary responsibility for the accident resides with the Army crew, who created the dangerous condition and failed to take any steps to warn about or alleviate it,” Mastroianni said. “While Jeffrey himself was negligent in taking undue risks, Martin’s experience of narrowly missing the helicopter demonstrates just how difficult it was to detect the helicopter from the direction Jeffrey traveled.”
The Smith plaintiffs were represented by Douglas P. Desjardins and Joseph L. Anderson of Pangia Law Group in Washington, D.C. In an e-mail provided to Law.com, Desjardins said the ruling was just.
“We are grateful for Judge Mastroianni’s thoughtful consideration of the complicated facts of this case,” Desjardins said. “We believe justice was served, and the decision encourages public safety.”
The government was represented by U.S. Attorney Christopher L. Morgan, based in Springfield, Massachusetts, who did not respond to a request for comment.
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Publish date : 2024-09-25 04:28:00
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