Anderson v. Alberto-Culver USA12/7/2000
Not Released For Publication
CRAIG ANDERSON, SPECIAL ADMINISTRATOR OF THE ESTATE OF CATHERINE ANDERSON, DECEASED, PLAINTIFF,
v.
ALBERTO-CULVER USA, INC., A CORPORATION, DEFENDANT-APPELLANT, AON CORPORATION, A CORPORATION, DEFENDANT, VILLAGE OF WHEELING, A MUNICIPAL CORPORATION; CITY OF PROSPECT HEIGHTS, A MUNICIPAL CORPORATION; AND PALWAUKEE MUNICIPAL AIRPORT COMMISSION, DEFENDANTS-APPELLEES. TERESA P. WHITENER, AS INDEPENDENT ADMINISTRATOR OF THE ESTATE OF ROBERT HAMPTON WHITENER, DECEASED, PLAINTIFF,
v.
CITY OF PROSPECT HEIGHTS, A MUNICIPAL CORPORATION; VILLAGE OF WHEELING, A MUNICIPAL CORPORATION; AND PALWAUKEE MUNICIPAL AIRPORT COMMISSION, DEFENDANTS. LAURA NEWCOMER, PLAINTIFF,
v.
VILLAGE OF WHEELING, A MUNICIPAL CORPORATION, CITY OF PROSPECT HEIGHTS, A MUNICIPAL CORPORATION; AND PALWAUKEE MUNICIPAL AIRPORT COMMISSION, DEFENDANTS. JACQUELINE QUERN, INDEPENDENT EXECUTOR OF THE ESTATE OF ARTHUR F. QUERN, DECEASED, PLAINTIFF-APPELLANT,
v.
VILLAGE OF WHEELING, A MUNICIPAL CORPORATION; CITY OF PROSPECT HEIGHTS, A MUNICIPAL CORPORATION; AND PALWAUKEE MUNICIPAL AIRPORT COMMISSION, DEFENDANTS-APPELLEES. KALYN ALWIN AND DAVID KOPPIE, CO-ADMINISTRATORS OF THE ESTATE OF MARTIN LARRY KOPPIE, DECEASED, PLAINTIFFS-APPELLANTS,
v.
VILLAGE OF WHEELING, A MUNICIPAL CORPORATION; CITY OF PROSPECT HEIGHTS, A MUNICIPAL CORPORATION; AND PALWAUKEE MUNICIPAL AIRPORT COMMISSION, DEFENDANTS-APPELLEES.
Consolidated Cases Under No. 97 L 13527 Appeal from the Circuit Court of Cook County. No. 97 L 13527; No. 97 L 13636; No. 97 L 13628; No. 97 L 13715; No. 97 L 13716 Honorable Julia M. Nowicki, Judge Presiding.
The opinion of the court was delivered by: Presiding Justice Hartman
A small private aircraft crashed at Palwaukee Municipal Airport (Palwaukee), killing all four people aboard. Plaintiffs, the estates of two pilots, one flight attendant and one passenger, filed wrongful death and survival actions, which were consolidated. Alberto-Culver USA, Inc. (Alberto-Culver), the registered owner of the airplane, was made a defendant, as were the village of Wheeling, the city of Prospect Heights and Palwaukee Municipal Airport Commission (municipal defendants). Municipal defendants moved for and were granted summary judgment upon a claim of immunity under the Local Governmental and Governmental Employees Tort Immunity Act (745 ILCS 10/1-101, et seq. (West 1998) (Act)). Plaintiffs and Alberto-Culver appeal, raising as an issue whether the circuit court erred in granting the motion for summary judgment to municipal defendants, because plaintiffs can prove that municipal defendants failed to maintain the runway area in a reasonably safe condition, contrary to the requirements of section 10/3-102 of the Act (745 ILCS 10/3-102 (West 1998) (section 3-102)). On October 30, 1996, a Gulfstream G-IV aircraft, registered to Alberto-Culver and piloted by Martin Larry Koppie and Robert Hampton Whitener, crashed while attempting its takeoff from Runway 16/34 at Palwaukee. Two other people, Arthur F. Quern, a passenger, and Catherine Anderson, the flight attendant, were aboard the airplane at the time of the fatal accident. After the pilots had received clearance for takeoff, the airplane began to roll down the runway, but started to veer to the left side of the runway in the middle of its takeoff roll. According to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), the aircraft rolled onto the grass off to the left side of the runway, traversing a shallow ditch that paralleled the runway, which resulted in the separation from the aircraft of landing gear, flight control surfaces and other airplane
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