[Porsche-O-Phile]

Totally stupid.

First off, he got an ABBREVIATED weather briefing. Mistake #1. He should've obtained a STANDARD weather briefing.

Secondly, forecasts were for 2800 overcast. At night, this is a tricky situation as flying under an overcast layer leaves one with little if any ambient light (very, very dark). Generally not a very smart thing for VFR pilots to do, but it is allowed. Trying to scoot along at 2000-2500' AGL at night under overcast is doable, but probably pushing it for a guy without an instrument rating. And personally if I were in that situation I'd have just filed IFR and said to hell with taking chances (I know, not an option for this guy but just sayin'...) The "go" decision shows (IMHO) questionable judgment. It ended up likely being a moot point however as the weather was "clear and moonlit" according to two witnesses. So why exactly was he blasting along at 100' AGL? Very stupid.

Third, 12.5 hours of flight and 5.3 hours of ground instruction is MORE than adequate to give someone preparatory instruction in an SR-22 (and yes, I've flown them). It is a "hot" plane, but I'd be shocked if it took a 200+ hour Private Pilot more than 5 or 6 hours of flight instruction (especially from a highly-structured, competent institution like UND, which has an EXCELLENT flight program) to show proficiency for his endorsement.

In short, this guy killed himself due to lousy judgment. I'd love to know why the F he was so low if it was clear above. No mention of a mechanical or altimeter failure, so it must be a deliberate decision. Either way, there's absolutely NO WAY UND and Cirrus are culpable here. This is a load of horsesch1t. Either a very stupid jury, a very NAIVE jury (who knows nothing about flying) and a terrible lawyer for the defendants to not properly educate them about aeronautical decision-making during the trial. No friggin' way UND and Cirrus should have to eat this. I seriously hope it gets appealed and overturned. Hell, the judge should've set aside the jury's verdict here IMHO. It's so obvious there should be no liability for the manufacturer or the school here.

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I was under the impression that the GA Revitalization Act of 1994 was supposed to limit stupid awards of this type. Remember, it's lawsuits exactly of this sort that made all the aircraft manufacturers stop producing light airplanes once (one reason you didn't see any new light aircraft until only a few years ago). Fkin lawyers are killing society in the name of money for themselves "defended" through amazing amounts of rationalization for their "services". This will only result in greater price tags for aircraft, more stupid warning labels and placards (as if there aren't enough on an airplane already), more restrictions, etc.

This guy's beneficiaries shouldn't get a dime, much less $9,000,000.

The Roman Empire saw a MASSIVE increase in the number of laws (and lawyers) shortly before its collapse. Coincidence? I think not.

You can teach instrument skills, you can teach procedures, but you can't teach common sense. Some people should really just stick to taking the bus.