Austral Flight 2553

This local Argentine aircraft spun wildly out of control during flight, crashing into a field in Uruguay and killing all on board. The crash is a vivid example of how air crashes often result from a combination of factors, in this case weather, dispatch, pilot error and miscommunication, equipment failures, and defective aircraft and component part design. The product liability case against McDonnell Douglas Co., the aircraft manufacturer, and against Smiths Industries, the manufacturer of the defectively designed airspeed indicator included arguments before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit and the Florida Appellate Court. Floyd Wisner obtained confidential settlements for all his clients far in excess of the limits of Argentine law.