Wrongful Death by Tiger Attack not Covered by Homeowners Policy

In 2005, Haley Hilderbrand, a 17-year-old high school student, decided to have her senior picture taken with a wild animal at a farm that was licensed to rescue and shelter exotic animals, including tigers, bears, lions, cougars, monkeys and alligators. The farm had made its animals available for photos in the past.

But on the day Haley had her picture taken, the 700-pound Siberian tiger attacked Haley. She later died from her injuries.

Thomas Warner Jr. of the Warner Law Offices in Wichita, Kan., who represented Haley's father, Randy Hilderbrand, in both the wrongful death suit and the related insurance dispute, faults the tiger's handler. "Some say, 'How could the family let their daughter get her picture taken with a tiger?' " Warner said. "They didn't know how lax this tiger handler would be. He held back a 700-pound, full-grown adult with only a dog leash."

According to the 10th Circuit opinion, the handler was Doug Billingsley, whose parents, Keith and Sharon Billingsley, owned the farm, along with Animal Entertainment Productions, a for-profit partnership that exhibited the rescued animals at magic shows and other events. Doug Billingsley was a trained animal handler, who had spent time working with magic shows involving large cats in Malaysia and on a Singapore-based cruise ship. He also worked in the lion habitat of the MGM Grand Casino in Las Vegas.

NYU Film Student Killed on Set

Last May, NYU film student John Hunt Lamensdorf, was killed while helping with another student's film project. The Village Voice has a lengthy account of what happened on the Georgia set, directly from someone who was there: Jason Welin.

Welin was hired for $350, and was at the controls of the aerial lift that hit power lines which caused a powerful explosion resulting in Lamensdorf's electrocution. He described the events, noting that Lamensdorf was setting up a 1,000 watt light on the other side of the dilapidated house they were filming at when Welin made contact with the wires above the lift, causing Lamensdorf's electrocution; "he was bleeding from his nose and mouth" when his friend Andres Cardona started CPR, and ultimately he died.

His parents are suing NYU, NES Rentals (for renting the lift "to inexperienced college students"), an NYU professor, Welin, Pen Pals Productions, the producers of the film, and classmates who were on the shoot, including Cardona, who tried to save their son. Welin's response? "That's great, that's just fucking great. I already feel bad enough that people are saying I have blood on my hands, and now to be sued? It really makes you feel like a piece of shit."

For their part, NYU has declined to discuss if they've added a dedicated safety course to the the curriculum. Tisch School of the Arts will be screening Lamensdorf's short film this Sunday, however, titled Only Criminals.

Stuntwoman in LA Killed Driving to Work

(AP) LOS ANGELES (AP) - A 28-year-old television stuntwoman is dead after she fell off her motorcycle and was hit by another vehicle while driving to a set in Los Angeles.

The Los Angeles County coroner's office says April Stirton was riding her motorcycle west on U.S. Highway 101 Tuesday morning when she attempted to pass a tow truck.

California Highway Patrol Officer Jose Nunez says Stirton was going about 55 mph when she lost control, fell off her bike and was struck by the back wheels of the tow truck. She died at the scene.

No other injuries were reported.

Missy Reynolds, who runs a stunt service agency and worked with Stirton, says Stirton was an up-and-coming performer who worked as a stunt double on TV shows, including "True Blood" and "CSI," and as an acrobat in live shows.

from CBSNEWS

Woman dies in elevator

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- It was a perfect storm of tragedy: A young woman with a congenital heart defect became trapped on an elevator during a power outage in New Dorp today, just inches from her sixth-floor home, and lapsed into unconsciousness.

Danielle Goldberg, 26, who was returning from a visit to the doctor and who was alone on the elevator, died shortly thereafter at Staten Island University Hospital, Ocean Breeze.

Danielle Goldberg died at hospital.The outage at the Tysens Park Apartments on Mill Road this morning halted the elevator cab between floors five and six.

Panicked, Ms. Goldberg used her cell phone to call her mother at work, to let her know her heart was racing. Her mother tried to calm her, said her brother-in-law, William Marin, but by the time the elevator doors could be forced open, she was already unconscious.

Panicked, Ms. Goldberg used her cell phone to call her mother at work, to let her know her heart was racing. Her mother tried to calm her, said her brother-in-law, William Marin, but by the time maintenance workers succeeded in forcing open the elevator doors, she was unconscious.

Ms. Goldberg’s next-door neighbor, Patricia Sanchez, heard the commotion; she said the workers asked for someone to provide mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, so she stepped in and started CPR while waiting for paramedics to arrive.

"Nothing was working. I was feeling for a pulse," Ms. Sanchez said. "I was praying she would make it through. I was just praying she would make it through."

from SILive.com

Plane Kills Jogger in S.C. Beach Emergency Landing

HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. (AP) — A 38-year-old father of two was jogging and listening to his iPod when he was hit from behind and killed by a small plane making an emergency landing on the beach, officials said Tuesday.

Robert Gary Jones of Woodstock, Ga., died instantly Monday evening when he was hit by the single-engine plane, which had lost its propeller, said Beaufort County Coroner Ed Allen. The pilot's vision was blocked by oil on the windshield.

Jones apparently did not see or hear the plane, which was "basically gliding," the coroner said.

FAA records show the Experimental Lancair IV-P plane was registered to Edward I. Smith of Chesapeake, Va.

Smith was on the beach with his plane Tuesday and confirmed he was the pilot. He said he didn't want to talk about the crash and offered few details.

"I've got a lot of issues going on right now. I've got a plane that's all torn up. And I've got a young man that I killed," he said.

Authorities said there was also a passenger on board but did not identify him or her.

The plane started leaking oil at about 13,000 feet and tried originally to make it to Hilton Head Airport, said fire and rescue spokeswoman Joheida Fister.

The oil on the windshield blocked Smith's vision and he told authorities the propeller came off. When he tried to land on the beach near the Hilton Head Marriott Resort and Spa, the plane hit Jones and came to rest a little farther down the beach, Fister said.

The plane was still on the beach Tuesday afternoon. Waves lapped against it and the tail was attached to an anchor with a rope so the tide wouldn't pull it out to sea. The waves had washed away any sign of it skidding across the sand.

Yellow crime scene tape stretched from the water to the dunes to keep people away. Tourists walked up to the tape, gawking and snapping pictures. Other than the missing propeller, the plane appeared undamaged.

The plane left Orlando, at 4:45 p.m. and was headed for Virginia, Fister said. The four-seater plane has a turbine engine, can be built from a kit and can fly up to 370 mph, according to the Lancair website. The IV-P model has a pressurized cabin.

The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board were investigating, Fister said.

An FAA spokeswoman referred inquiries to the NTSB.

Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

From USA Today

Woman Killed by 6 Train Retrieving Dropped Bag

Yesterday afternoon, a woman was fatally struck by a northbound 6 train at the 77th Street and Lexington Avenue station in Manhattan. Police now say that 48-year-old Rosemary Mankof had jumped into the tracks to pick up her fallen bag. Witnesses were yelling at her to lie on on the track bed, but, the NY Times reports, "Panicked, the woman scrambled toward the platform and struggled to climb up, but was crushed as the train came charging into the station."

One witness told the Daily News, "She tried to climb underneath the platform and then she tried to climb up. I was yelling, 'Get down on the tracks, get down on the tracks!' but she just stood there." Another witness thought Mankof seemed "too scared" to climb up. According to the Daily News, "At the last instant, Mankof tried to press herself against the platform wall so the train would pass by her - but instead it crushed her between the first car and the wall."

The train's motorman had sounded his horn repeatedly—and also engaged the emergency brake. A passenger aboard the train, Glena Farr, said to the Times, "We felt a horrible thud. It was horrible. I’ve never felt anything like it, that terrible boom." The Post says, "It was chaos on the platform as straphangers shrieked with horror upon seeing the shredded parts of her body."

The police are investigating but do not suspect any criminality—they believe Mankof was simply trying to get her bag, which, the News reports, "contained toiletries and gym wear, but nothing of significant value."

That's Why They Call Them KILLER Whales

After the massive whale was finally trapped last week, it refused to unclench its teeth and let go of Dawn Brancheau, according to the investigative reports released by the Orange County Sheriff's Office. Its jaws were eventually pried open.

"The whale would not let us have her," another trainer, Jodie Ann Tintle, told investigators after the Wednesday attack.

Investigators have said that the 40-year-old trainer died from multiple traumatic injuries and drowning.

In the new investigative reports, Brancheau's co-workers describe the swiftness of the attack and the furious response that came after alarms sounded around the pool. Employees who were at other pools, behind computers or emptying coolers of fish rushed to the scene.

The reports released Monday include the first extensive accounts from employees who witnessed the attacks at the park in Orlando.

via NY Daily News