Tower Company Sues Dead Pilot's Family
The family of a Quebec man who died when his single-engine plane crashed into a 1,000-foot-high telecommunications tower in dense fog in 2001 is being sued for $2.5 million by the tower's owner, CTV News reported Saturday. The wreck remained tangled in the tower for several days, and the tower was destroyed with dynamite to retrieve the airplane and the pilot's body. The tower is owned by a U.S. company, SpectraSite, which wants more than $2.5 million from the family to cover the costs of the tower's destruction, the cost to rebuild, and lost revenue. The company says the pilot was at fault for flying in fog, CTV News said. The pilot's widow and children say they don't have that much money. The family may have to declare bankruptcy to avert a court battle. "It's very harsh," one man said in French to CTV. "Companies have to be poor to sue a family that has already lost so much." In a recent first-quarter financial report, SpectraSite reported its total assets at about $1.5 billion.

http://www.avweb.com/eletter/archives/avflash/227-full.html#187173

Btw, anyone interested in contacting this company with their thoughts regarding this IMHO outrageous lawsuit:

http://www.spectrasite.com/web/contact_us.html

I'd boycott them if they actually sold anything tangible. I do that with several Swiss products if the company is in anyway related to swissair. For example all Nestle products including new ice creams (Hagandaz?) they've bought up here in the states do not come into this home nor do any products of companies where the CEOs were on the board of s'airgroup during the time the IFEN was carelessly purchased and installed. No Swatch Watches-used to be Tara's favorite when she was small as they were selling them on swissair flights. Had a rolex watch at one point and got rid of that because of the expression, 'swissair runs like a rolex watch'. Nor do I bank at any financial institutions (Credit Suisse) that had anything to do with swissair. The effect to them is laughable but it makes me feel better.

I think this is disgraceful and I just might fire off a letter to them myself. This family is suffering enough without this greedy multi-billion dollar firm bothering them.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: BF,

Well I wrote to them because I found this story deeply disturbing. Here is what I wrote, I doubt I'll get much of a response if any at all.

To whom it concerns,

I recently read that your company, SpectraSite, has decided to pursue a lawsuit against the family of a Quebec man who died when he crashed his plane into one of your telecommunications towers in 2001 because the visibility was poor at the time. I am appalled that a large company would do that to a victim's family considering you must know that they are already suffering from the grief of losing this man not to mention the loss of income to his spouse and children. The family has stated that they will have to declare bankruptcy if you continue to go after them for this ridiculous quantity of money.

There is simply no excuse for this reprehensible action on the part of SpectraSite. Please reconsider your position and show some respect and humanity towards this already bereaved family and leave them alone in their grief.

Sincerely,
Barbara Fetherolf

Here is a video about this case with comments from the wife.

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/1082769135376_52/?hub=CTVNewsAt11#

Incidentally, I've gotten no reply from the company at all at this point- not even a form letter. I also wrote to CTV about this tragic story in response to an article they published.

Tower Company Drops Suit Naming Pilot's Widow
As AVweb told you recently, the widow of a pilot who crashed into a telecommunications tower in Quebec was sued by SpectraSite, a U.S. company that operated the tower. Now, SpectraSite has withdrawn that suit and issued a statement to clarify its position. "SpectraSite's suit was filed due to a misunderstanding that led us to believe the suit was the only means of preserving our ability to protect the interests of our shareholders," CEO Stephen Clark said in a news release last week. "In accordance with applicable Canadian law, SpectraSite has taken action to dismiss the estate of Mr. Gilbert Paquette [the pilot who died] from its suit" but to seek its share from the pilot's liability insurance. Clark said, "SpectraSite's sole intent has always been to seek its pro rata share of the liability insurance proceeds resulting from the multiple claimants related to this unfortunate event. The insurance proceeds the Company is seeking were not and will not be available to the estate of Mr. Gilbert Paquette. Our deepest sympathy remains with the family of Mr. Paquette." Paquette's single-engine airplane crashed into a 1,000-foot-high tower at Notre-Dame-de-Carmel in Quebec, Canada, on April 22, 2001.

http://www.avweb.com/eletter/archives/avflash/233-full.html#187239

A little off topic but apparently Europeans are also not buying the same Swiss products I won't buy but for a different reason. They have lost faith due to the unreliability of the swissair airline but I boycott these products because of the swissair crash and the loss of my precious daughter Tara.


The Red Cross: First Aid for the Swiss National Brand?
"º "º "º Brand Marketing



BY Martin Lindstrom | October 30, 2001


Some months ago, I wrote about the brand value of national reputation. Nations can be brands themselves, and the value set attached to these concepts can be used by brand builders. A key example was Switzerland. Let's rethink the Swiss brand in light of recent events.

In the U.S., first it was Pan Am, now it's TWA. Both once-formidable airline brands are now pages in history books. Three weeks ago, Swissair went into bankruptcy. This wasn't a major shock. It had been in the cards for months, if not years. But Swissair's demise was nevertheless unsettling. This consumer perception was underscored by the fact that this wasn't any national airline, it was the Swiss one. Swiss coverage of the saga would lead you to believe that the Swiss view this as the biggest national image catastrophe since World War II.

Why the drama? The demise of an Australian carrier, Ansett Australia, happened unremarkably a few weeks before Swissair's announcement. The widespread astonishment at Swissair's collapse is because it is perceived to be evidence of weakness in the formerly unassailable Swiss brand.

Consider Switzerland. You form associations -- the Swiss Army Knife, Swatch watches, the Red Cross, Nestlé, Rolex, UBS, Credit Suisse -- a host of high-quality brands. They have reputations built on impeccable quality, stability, reliability, and integrity. A Swiss-branded item exacts your trust at a premium price. You pay that price because you appreciate the quality, because you believe nothing will go wrong.

On October 5, something went wrong. Swissair grounded its fleet when UBS and Credit Suisse First Boston said they would not aid their fellow brand. Thousands of Swissair passengers were stranded around the world. Many told the media their reason for flying Swissair was that, in turbulent, volatile times, it was the only airline they trusted. Loyal customers were stranded, their tickets worth less than the paper they were printed on. That Friday was every brand's nightmare.

Swissair's fate makes consumers, particularly in Europe, reconsider what Switzerland as a brand means. A friend recently joked that my Rolex watch probably never worked. If the Swiss can't keep an airline aloft, how can they make a decent watch? A throwaway joke -- but perhaps a new interpretation of the Swiss brand.

The Swissair collapse caused damage not only for the airline but also for other Swiss brands. Other European brands may also be adversely affected. Could many quality European products, once regarded as paragons of stability and quality, lose their hold on consumer trust?

Consumer belief in stability is shaken. Life is mutable, so trusting a brand for life may no longer be possible. Even the strongest brands, ones that seem to be part of life's fabric, can disappear.

Swissair received a bailout last week from the government, Novartis, and Nestlé, enabling it to resume operations. But Crossair, a Swissair subsidiary, is taking over the bulk of its parent's operations under its banner. The Crossair logo is almost identical to Swissair's -- both echo the national flag. Has this "Red Cross" first aid come too late to bolster the national brand? Time will tell.


Martin Lindstrom is recognized as one of the world's primary on- and offline branding gurus. He is the author of several best-selling branding books including the highly acclaimed BRANDchild with Patricia B. Seybold (Customer.com) and "Clicks, Bricks and Brands" with Don Peppers and Martha Rogers, Ph.D.


http://www.clickz.com/experts/brand/brand/article.php/912201

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