Travis Barker is suing pretty much anyone and everyone involved in the plane crash that killed four people and left both Barker and D.J. A.M.- the only two survivors – with severe burns on their bodies. Along with the mother of his bodyguard, he filed papers stating that the Learjet had multiple parts that were not airworthy, and that the pilot, Sarah Lemmon, was negligent when she tried to abort the takeoff.
The suit, filed in L.A. County Superior Court, was filed by Barker and the mother of Charles “Che” Still, Travis’ bodyguard who died in the crash.
In the lawsuit, Travis and Thelma Martin Still claim “one or more of the tires failed leaving tire debris and portions of airplane components along the 8,600 foot runway” ultimately causing the Learjet to crash.
The suit alleges a “negligent attempt to abort the takeoff.” The suit continues, “The pilot’s decision was a breach of their duty owed to the passengers onboard and was a substantial factor in causing the crash and resultant injuries and deaths.”
The suit also alleges the plane was “defective,” as were component parts including the tires.
The suit goes on, “It’s landing gear, tires, wheels, brakes, reverse thrust system, squat switches and component parts were not airworthy.”
Barker is suing for “pain and suffering, mental anguish, psychological and emotional distress and disfigurement and pre-impact fear of death and burning.”
UPDATE: A rep for Clay Lacy just told TMZ, “We are surprised about the lawsuit and concerned and knowledgeable about the accident. We are sympathetic for the victims but we want to emphasize we were not operating this airplane. This was not our airplane. We merely assisted the parties in chartering this aircraft with another company. We simply booked it for them.”
[From TMZ]
That is quite the serious list of allegations. They’re saying seven of the plane’s components were not airworthy AND the pilot was negligent. She died in the crash. I’m really curious what they mean about her being negligent and the part about “The pilot’s decision was a breach of their duty owed to the passengers onboard and was a substantial factor in causing the crash and resultant injuries and deaths.” Her decision to try to abort the plane was a breach of her duty towards the passengers? Unless her motives were somehow selfish, how is that possible? That sentence is so vague but it has some incredibly harsh implications. I really hope they elaborate on it.
In other Barker news, Blink-182’s Mark Hoppus says the crash helped him reconnect with Travis and may eventually lead to a Blink reunion. Barker is already back to playing the drums and is recovering from his injuries remarkably well.
Ugh I hope that band doesn’t get back together… I’m all for reestablishing connections-as long as I don’t have to hear that annoying music again.
Jeez, Travis while you’re at it, why don’t you sue yourself for choosing the learjet company.
Well, THAT’S a surprise!
disgusting way to try to make a buck. talk about trying to capitalize on a trauma. ugh. let the poor souls who died rest in peace. and to think he had ALL my sympathy and best wishes before this suit. loser.
I didn’t see anything wrong with him suing until I got to the part about him naming the pilot. She died trying to save them all. He lived due to her efforts. He should be grateful. You can Monday morning quarter back all you want but until you were there and have her training and experience you don’t know what you would do.
Your question about the negligience of the pilot. Every plane has a “No Stop” speed. Basically it’s a point of no return. From what I read the jet he was on had reached 156 mph, which is beyond it’s threshhold to take off. If that is true, the pilot was indeed at fault in the crash. She should have simply gunned the aircraft and taken off at that speed.
Does he even care where the money will come from if he wins a settlement? I wonder how many people will lose their jobs if it results in a company or two going bankrupt. Five million people will be facing foreclosure in 2009, while this millionaire spends other people’s desperately-needed salaries on whores and tattoos.
And who needs the NTSB when we have Shane’s brilliant powers of deduction? Nice work, pal.
He is lucky to live, has millions already, and is still going to sue? It was a horrible, tragic accident and I feel for him, but this just doesn’t seem right.
I’m wondering…if the pilot continued with the takeoff despite the tire blowing out and the plane losing pieces of its structure on the takeoff runway, wouldn’t the subsequent landing of the plane resulted in a crash, as well? I guess there would have been less fuel to burn, but it likely would not have been a smooth landing.
It sounds to me like he is saying he knew all this beforehand. If that is the case, why did he get on the plane at all?
I’m really sorry for the people who died and I am sympathetic to the two survivors, but I think this is just, forgive me, another of those silly American lawsuits that make us in Europe shake our heads and say “why??”
Barker has more than enough money, he does not rely on it. The bodyguard’s mother probably has a lot less and I understand wanting/needig money, but doing it with the death of her son?
And this is just about vengeance, about getting back at someone for the tragedy that occured. And if the pilot really was at fault and had survived, one could have prosecuted her or whatever, but the woman is dead, whatever she did or did not do wrong, she was punished enough, she had to pay with her life!
Amen Anna. But, please don’t lump the entire U.S. into a singluar category. I would venture to say that most Americans aware of this greedy lawsuit are disgusted by it. But we don’t think “oh, another silly American lawsuit”. We think.. ‘what an ungrateful idiot’. do you think all Europeans are alike? ok, then please don’t project that ignorance on us either. thanks.
No, I wouldn’t say this is typically American. I just meant the term in the way that America seems (to us) to kinda be the country where this silly-kind-of-lawsuits-mania originated, know what I mean? I know (if only from the above comments), that most people know how to pick their battles a lot better. And I’m sure Europeans have also filed crazy suits in their time.
Right Anna. It probably did start here, and it is infuriating any way you cut it. A whole lot of us here hate it too. Then again, probably the other “half” thinks it’s a righteous way to exact revenge and make a quick buck that is “deserved” from an ACCIDENT. “Right or wrong, SOMEone has to pay!” I seriously bet Barker saw dollar signs before the flames were even out. Anyway, yes, I understand what you mean, and thanks for clarifying. And also yes, there ARE a lot of silly American things.. but we also do a few things right. (Travis Barker ain’t one of them.) :-]
Shane: You clearly have no idea what you are talking about. I’ve worked in the aviation industry for seven, going on eight years, so excuse me if I take offense to your ignorant statement.
If the pilot had attempted to take off after blowing a tire, it would have been much riskier. There is certain protocol to be followed for every situation, combined with good judgment. The pilots did just that- they attend flight school for a reason, and spend countless hours training for the worst of the worst. However, much like an automobile accident, no two aircraft accidents are ever the same, nor are they predictable. Blowing a tire at such a high rate of speed is an already precarious situation- by the way, did you not stop to think that there would not be sufficient landing gear to execute a safe landing after a takeoff? The resulting crash would have been much, much worse than it already was.
Any and all sympathy I had for Travis Barker (never gave a crap about him or his crappy bands/projects before the accident) is out the window now. An already flithy rich person with an unwarranted sense of self-importance filing yet another frivolous lawsuit, while the rest of the country is on pins and needles wondering if they’ll have a place to live and food to eat in the near future. Yeah, Barker sounds like a real charmer. No wonder Herpes-Hilton and Shana Whateverhernameis were fighting over him 🙄
IceBunny: I’m really glad you got what I meant, which was definitely not offense. Americans sure do a lot of things right, the latest, in my opinion, is about to enter the White House! 🙂
Suing a dead person? How classy! If I were the judge I would kick his old self-entitled butt just for having *thought* about it.
My first thought was that I now have no sympathy for this loser. So much for just being grateful to be alive.
Asstard.
Interesting discussion brought up by Shane and AJ. I read Shane’s point as meaning at the speed he read that was reached, it would have been impossible for the jet to safely stop and would have hit an embankment or rough ground at the end of the runway, and a jet is far less forgiving of rough ground than a propeller plane. So, it would have been wiser to take off, burn off fuel and land when all of the emergency services were ready to minimise damage.
But I see AJ’s point of view that without tires and a faulty landing gear, it would have been impossible to avoid a crash which could have resulted in everyone losing their lives. The pilot was very experienced and was stuck in a situation where both options would have meant certain death for some if not all onboard.
It’s a very sad situation and it’ll be really unfortunate if people needlessly lose their jobs over this.
Considering he’s *only* suing for $25,000.00, big money isn’t his motivation. I understand why he may feel the need to file suit with regard to hardware malfunction, suing the dead pilot is just adding salt to an open wound. Her poor family…why doesn’t he just pee on her grave while he’s at it? She did her best and he’s alive because of her actions so in this instance Travis should eff off for being both a douche and an ingrate.
So I guess Travis really is as slimy as he looks.
He should sue his tattoo artist. That stuff is going to look so good after all his burns heal up.
@dante
I find myself lately scrolling through looking specifically for your comments, and as always you never fail to make me laugh.
I don’t blame him. Normally I think people are far too litigious, but in this case I think he is completely justified. He will have physical and psychological scars forever as a result of this completely preventable accident. He deserves compensation for that.
Lauri.. oh really? He is entitled to sue because this accident was “completely preventable”? Wow. You should volunteer to testify at the hearings, because obviously you know something that NO ONE else knows.
And BTW, ALL accidents, repeat, *accidents* – would be completely prevantable if we could go back in time, and – with the benefit of hindsight – revise the thousands of intertwining events that led up to the one that failed. But until we can time travel to do that, nothing about it was “completely preventable”.
And one last thing.. can you imagine what would happen in this overly litigious society if everyone sued every car company for every accident that involved a car part that failed?
This lawsuit is just unbearable on so many levels. Travis Barker has officially lowered the bar of douchebaggery. This ungrateful skank’s life was spared, and the pilot he is suing is dead. Now THAT is an event that I would like to have seen revised.
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