FAA on the Defense in Trial over 2000 Chicago-Area Midair Collision

Feb. 6--Nearly seven years to the day after a midair collision killed WGN radio personality Bob Collins and two others, a trial opened in federal court Monday to decide who was at fault for the crash of the two small aircraft.

Government lawyers laid the blame on Collins, while attorneys for the three victims said the collision was caused by an air traffic controller and was ultimately the responsibility of the Federal Aviation Administration.

Collins, 57, had been Chicago's top-ranked morning-radio personality for 14 years when his Moravan Z242L struck a Cessna 172P as the two aircraft approached the Waukegan Regional Airport on the hazy afternoon of Feb. 8, 2000.

Collins' plane crashed onto the roof of the Midwestern Regional Medical Center, killing him and passenger Herman Luscher, 58. The Cessna's pilot, Sharon Hock, 31, a flight attendant who was on her second solo flight, died when her plane crashed on a Zion street.

No one on the ground was injured, but the hospital sustained $28 million in property damage and lost business.

The bench trial before U.S. District Judge John Darrah, expected to last about two weeks, opened with the federal government as the lone defendant after Midwest Air Traffic Control Inc., which operates the Waukegan airport's tower, admitted liability Monday.

But lawyers for survivors of the three victims, including Collins' widow, Christine, contend the FAA controlled the Waukegan airport's operations and bears the responsibility for the collision.

In opening remarks, attorney Kevin Durkin, who represents Collins' estate, said air traffic controller Gregory Fowler failed to properly sequence the planes on their approach to the airfield and made other errors.

For years, Durkin said, the Waukegan airfield was mistakenly left off an FAA list of airports that qualified for radar.

The FAA had radar installed in the Waukegan tower after the collision because of political pressure following Collins' death, Durkin said. Another factor, he said: After the crash, Bulls great Michael Jordan wouldn't fly into Waukegan in his personal jet without the airfield equipped with radar.

Robert Clifford, another Collins attorney, said an economic expert hired by the plaintiffs estimates Collins would have earned more than $20 million if he hadn't perished in the crash. He disputed that Collins had planned to retire when his five-year contract was to expire 2004.

"Next to the Cubs, Bob personified WGN and was the heart and soul of WGN," Clifford said.

WGN is owned by Tribune Co., which also owns the Chicago Tribune.

Jill Dahlmann Rosa, a Justice Department lawyer, said Collins set up the collision by misreporting his location to the tower, misleading Hock and the air traffic controller.

Collins' conduct "fell below the standard of care of a reasonable pilot," she said.

Rosa also maintained that Collins failed to report his diabetes to the FAA and that it "impaired his ability to see and evaluate the threat and react accordingly."

Rosa scoffed at the lack of radar playing a part in the collision, saying the Waukegan airfield has low levels of activity and that thousands of small airports operate even without air traffic controllers.

"We are not talking about O'Hare [International Airport]," she said.

Furthermore, Rosa said, the FAA shouldn't be held negligent for not adding radar at Waukegan because not every tower can be upgraded.

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