THE JOURNAL & TOPICS NEWSPAPERS | THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 2008
Payment For Plane Lost In Crash: $6 Million
The Village of Wheeling approved a settlement agreement for payout on an Aon Aviation Gulfstream IV plane involved in a crash on Oct. 30, 1996.
The manager of Chicago Executive Airport, then Palwaukee Airport, Dennis Rouleau explained the aircraft was attempting to depart the airport on Runway 34.
"It left the runway and ended up killing four people, all aboard the airplane," he said.
A lawsuit followed between the insurance company Associated Aviation Underwriters against the airport and its two municipal owners: Wheeling and Prospect Heights. The settlement agreement grants a $6 million payout for loss of the aircraft.
"It's a release and full settlement," explained Mark Rooney, village manager for Wheeling. "It releases all claims and responsibility for the two villages and the airport," he said. Rooney added the airport's insurance carrier negotiated the settlement but the municipalities must sign off as co-owners.
Approval of the settlement by the City of Prospect Heights was scheduled for an upcoming board meeting.
Rouleau added that the accident did not lead to any particular safety improvements at the airport.
"We have made significant changes from when we purchased the airport in 1986 until now," he said. "The accident did not have an impact on the safely improvements that we've done here."
He added the management team at Chicago Executive Airport is, "constantly reevaluating and trying to improve the safety of this airport."
-Craig Adams