Local News in Brief : Jury Clears Pilot in Suit Over Fatal Crash

A Van Nuys Superior Court jury has ruled that the surviving pilot of a 1981 mid-air collision over the Sherman Oaks Galleria was not responsible for the crash and declined to award damages to the parents of the other pilot.

Jeffrey Tomlinson, 21, of Camarillo, who was preparing to land at Van Nuys Airport, died when his Piper Cherokee Archer II was struck in the tail and plummeted 2,500 feet into a May Co. store. Also killed were his two passengers.

The pilot of the other plane, Michael P. Hubman, now 37 and living in Hermosa Beach, landed his badly damaged Cessna 150 at Van Nuys Airport, from which he had just taken off.

Tomlinson’s parents, Alex and Ann Tomlinson, sued Hubman. They had sought $2 million in damages.

Their attorney, Ian Herzog, argued that Hubman deviated from the takeoff plan that had been cleared by tower personnel and drifted into an area over the shopping center where Tomlinson was flying.

Hubman’s attorney, Frank Kennerly, countered that the accident was caused by Tomlinson’s inexperience in flying into Van Nuys Airport. As Tomlinson was preparing to land, he saw other aircraft, hesitated, and turned around to make another approach, maneuvering into the area where Hubman was flying, Kennerly said.

On Thursday, jurors voted 9 to 2 that Hubman’s actions did not constitute gross negligence and that Tomlinson himself contributed to the crash. Attorneys had agreed to an 11-member panel when one juror could no longer serve.