$16.9 Million Verdict for Family of Passenger Killed in PenAir Runway Overrun

On October 17, 2019, PenAir Flight 3296 touched down at Tom Madsen Airport in Unalaska, Alaska, and could not stop. The Saab 2000 turboprop overran the short runway and slid into ballast rocks along the harbor. David Oltman, 38, of Wenatchee, Washington, was killed when propeller shrapnel entered the cabin. He was one of roughly 40 people aboard a regional flight serving the remote Aleutian community of Dutch Harbor.

The National Transportation Safety Board determined that a brake maintenance contractor had cross-wired the antiskid brake system during a prior overhaul, leaving it substantially compromised. Plaintiffs' attorneys argued at trial that PenAir had numerous warning signs the system was malfunctioning before the fateful flight. Compounding the brake failure, the flight crew elected to land in the direction that placed a significant tailwind against the aircraft, despite knowing that condition was present.

The case took six years to reach a King County courtroom. Miller Weisbrod Olesky attorneys Clay Miller, Josh Birmingham, Larry Lassiter, and Garrett Stanford tried the matter over six weeks. The jury deliberated approximately three days before returning a verdict of $16.9 million in favor of Oltman's family. Jurors apportioned liability 70 percent to PenAir and 30 percent to the brake maintenance contractor.

PenAir has since ceased operations, but under Washington law the airline remains legally responsible for the full award regardless of the contractor's share. The plaintiffs' legal team described the verdict as the first fatal commercial airline crash in the United States to be tried to a jury verdict in more than 25 years. No post-verdict reduction has been reported.