Agreement ends civil trial on Cessna crash

The civil trial arising from the 2005 crash of a Cessna airplane has come and gone as quietly as the full-scale Cessna P210 - a trial exhibit - that last week drew gawkers to City Hall's northwest plaza.

Two weeks after the jury trial began in City Hall, the suit against Cessna and a Northeast Pennsylvania aircraft-modifying company ended Monday afternoon in a sealed, confidential settlement.

The settlement was confirmed yesterday by the chambers of Common Pleas Court Judge Marlene F. Lachman.

Noted aviation litigation lawyer Arthur Alan Wolk - whose firm represented the families of pilot Alfred Wilsey Jr. and longtime friend Richard Ongaro, both killed when their plane crashed - was not available for comment and did not return a phone message.

Ralph G. Wellington, the Center City lawyer who led the team that defended Cessna Aircraft Co., of Wichita, Kan., and O&N Aircraft Modifications Inc., the Scranton-area company that modified Wilsey's P210, said he could not disclose terms except that it was "a monetary settlement."

"After two hard-fought weeks of trial, and the prospect of several additional weeks, the parties on Monday were able to reach a mutually satisfying agreement," Wellington said.

The 2007 lawsuit was the result of a Sept. 28, 2005, crash that killed Wilsey, 60, an experienced pilot, and Ongaro, 62, as they prepared to fly home to Marin County, near San Francisco, from an Idaho elk-hunting trip.

Witnesses said that about 5:30 p.m., Wilsey piloted the Cessna 210 down the runway of the Flying B Resort Ranch in Salmon, Idaho.

The single-engine plane lifted off, witnesses said, but had trouble gaining altitude. The plane veered left, crossed the Salmon River, then crashed and burned.

Wilsey was a real estate developer and philanthropist, and Ongaro's family owned a well-known San Francisco-area contracting company.

The families' lawsuit contended that Wilsey lost control of the Cessna when the adjustable pilot's seat slid back unexpectedly and made it impossible for him to reach foot and hand controls that operate the plane.

The defense case questioned Wilsey's piloting skill in flying the Cessna out of remote airstrips such as the one at Flying B and argued that the plane was overloaded with the elk carcass, two rifles, and other gear.

For trial, the legal teams converted the cavernous, ornate City Hall courtroom into something akin to the Franklin Institute's aviation hall.