Settlement Reached in 2008 Learjet 60 Crash

By: Kirby J. Harrison

November 19, 2009
Accidents

A settlement has been reached in one of a number of lawsuits stemming from the September 2008 crash of a Learjet 60 in which Adam “DJ AM” Goldstein was injured. According to Los Angeles County Superior Court papers, the widow of pilot James Bland, who died in the Columbia, S.C. crash, will receive $406,250 and his 17-year-old daughter will receive $25,000 a year for the next three years from defendants in the case–Global Executive Aviation, Inter Travel & Services and the Pem Group.

In a separate filing, the estate of Adam Goldstein is suing Clay Lacy Aviation, Goodyear Tire, Learjet and Inter Travel & Services and others for wrongful death. The amended suit claims Goldstein was forced to take various drugs for the burns and emotional distress he suffered as a result of the crash.

The accident, therefore, was the ultimate cause of the celebrity disc jockey’s death of a drug overdose, the suit alleges. Following the crash, a tire debris trail was found at approximately 2,800 feet down the 8,602-foot runway and the NTSB is eyeing a blown tire as the possible cause of the accident.

Both pilots and two other passengers were killed in the accident. Goldstein and punk rocker Travis Barker were injured.

Goldstein was found dead in August in his Manhattan apartment. The official cause of death was later determined to be “acute intoxication” from a combination of prescription drugs and cocaine.

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