Court Takes Pilot’s Estate

A federal judge Tuesday ruled that the court should take custody of the estate of William Kramer, the private pilot whose plane collided with an Aeromexico jetliner over Cerritos in 1986. The judge found that the estate, which wanted to remove itself from the litigation, has admitted “some liability” in the disaster that resulted in 82 deaths.

U.S. District Judge David Kenyon’s ruling allows the dropping of the Kramer estate as a defendant in the dozens of lawsuits filed after the crash, most of which also name the U.S. government and Aeromexico as defendants.

The estate’s lawyers have sought for several months to deposit with the court for later distribution the proceeds of Kramer’s $1-million aviation insurance policy, plus an additional $20,000 that represents the remainder of the estate of the Rancho Palos Verdes pilot, who also died in the crash. Plaintiffs in the lawsuits, who are primarily survivors of the passengers who died and those who suffered injury or property damage from falling debris, had opposed allowing the Kramer estate to be dropped as a defendant.