Duke's plane set on fire by faulty switch; It could have been fatal.Byline: Matt Withers withers the region over the backline where the neck joins the thorax and where the dorsal margins of the scapulae lie just below the skin. fistulous withers see fistulous withers. THE Duke of Westminster The title Duke of Westminster was created by Queen Victoria in 1874 and bestowed upon Richard Grosvenor, the 3rd Marquess of Westminster. The title is derived from Westminster. is suing aircraft company Cessna after his pounds 6.5mprivate jet burst into flames. His Cessna Citation The Cessna Citation is a marketing name used by Cessna for its lines of business jets. Rather than one particular model of aircraft, the name applies to several "families" of turbofan-powered aircraft which have been produced over the years. was badly damaged by the fire,caused by an electrical fault on the light switch. Nobody was injured as the twin engined craft was just being cleaned by one of his staff,but if the Duke had been piloting the plane at the time he could have been killed. Earl Gerald Grosvenor Gerald Grosvenor may refer to several people, including:
adj. air·wor·thi·er, air·wor·thi·est Being in fit condition to fly: an airworthy helicopter; airworthy avionics. and not of ``merchantable quality'' because of the shoddy wiring. The Duke, Britain's richest man with a fortune in excess of pounds 5bn, had flown the plane eighteen times but had never thrown the faulty switch. The fire happened when the Duke's valet was cleaning the plane at Hawarden Airport in Flintshire,North Wales,in December 1999. He switched-on the light while vacuum cleaning the cabin and minutes later a fire broke out that ripped through the cockpit causing more than a million pounds worth of damage. In a High Court writ the Duke's lawyers allege that Cessna and its agents failed to design,make, service and sell an aircraft of merchantable quality. A spokeswoman for the Duke of Westminster's office confirmed that he was determined to obtain damages for the fire in the High Court. She said: ``On the 17th December 1999 a Cessna Citation aircraft owned by the Duke of Westminster was damaged as a result of a fire on board. ``The Duke and his insurers are in dispute with the aircraft manufacturers, Cessna Aircraft Company, of Wichita, USA, and the maintenance contractors,Raytheon Aircraft Services. ``It has not been possible to settle the dispute to date so legal proceedings All actions that are authorized or sanctioned by law and instituted in a court or a tribunal for the acquisition of rights or the enforcement of remedies. are being pursued against both companies in England.'' The Duke is also claiming other costs arising from the fire,including pounds 20,000- worth of his staff's time,more than pounds 36,000 for travel to Wichita, pounds 308.06 in telephone calls and the cost of his insurance excess of pounds 5,000. Captain Ross Williams of the Air Safety Group claimed the defect should have been spotted much earlier. He said: ``A fire of this nature during a flight would have proved catastrophic. ``If the flicking of a switch did result in a fire then whoever was responsible for quality control is likely to be at fault. ``Cessna has a great reputation as a quality manufacturer. Any lawsuits would seriously damage it.'' A spokesman for Cessna said: ``In any pending court case we are unable to comment.'' The Duke divides much of his time between his modern mansion,Eaton Hall,in Cheshire and his London home in Eaton Square. He has a hangar on the airfield at Hawarden where his jet is kept while he is in Cheshire. His estates also include 150,000 acres of farming country and moor land in Scotland,Lancashire and Cheshire. |
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