Woman who was struck in the head by model airplane sues operator and others

A Jenkintown woman who was struck in the back of the head by a remote-controlled model airplane during an outing at a Northeast Philadelphia park is suing the plane’s operator and others in Philadelphia Common Pleas Court.

Philadelphia attorneys Murray L. Greenfield and Michael F. McCartin, of the firm Murray L. Greenfield & Associates, filed the personal injury lawsuit July 28 on behalf of Lisa McFadden and her husband, Philip McFadden.

The defendants named in the lawsuit are Levittown, Pa. resident Emmanuel Lalo, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Northeast Philadelphia Radio Control Club, Inc., and the Academy of Model Aeronautics.

According to the complaint, the plaintiff’s were at Benjamin Rush State Park on Aug. 15, 2009 as part of a group outing organized by the Northeast Radio Control Club when, while tending to their own plane, another craft operated by defendant Lalo “negligently struck Plaintiff in the back of the head.”

Lalo had been operating his plan in an area of the flying field that was not designated for flying at the time of the incident.

As a result of the accident, Lisa McFadden suffered disc herniation resulting in compression of the spinal cord and marked compression of left lateral recess and egress of the left neural foramen, as well as emotional anguish, humiliation, inconvenience, scarring, embarrassment and a loss of life’s pleasures, the lawsuit states.

Furthermore, her physical injuries required surgical repair, meaning Lisa McFadden incurred various sums of money on medical expenses.

The lawsuit accuses defendant Lalo of carelessness and negligence for failing to properly operate his model craft, failing to follow club rules, failing to follow appropriate flying routes, failing to use a high degree of care and permitting his plane to fly in areas where other members were tending to their planes.

It accuses the other defendants of similar counts of negligence and carelessness for, among other things, failing to properly supervise Lalo, failing to properly train Lalo and causing or permitting an unsafe condition to become and remain available to the plaintiff.

For each of the five counts listed in the lawsuit, the plaintiffs seek damages in excess of $50,000.

A jury trial has been demanded.

The case number is 110703004.