Gov't suing to get back a Navy Corsair that crashed in a swamp in WWII..

[Analog]

Government suing to get plane wreckage

MINNEAPOLIS -- The federal government has filed a lawsuit against an airplane collector demanding the return of the wreckage of a World War II Corsair fighter that the Navy abandoned after it crashed in a North Carolina swamp in 1944. Historical airplane enthusiasts say the plane Lex Cralley dug out of the swamp near the North Carolina coast is the only one of its kind known to still exist. Cralley, an airplane mechanic with a passion for preserving World War II aviation history, salvaged the pieces of the single-engine plane in 1990, registered it as a "non-airworthy model" with the Federal Aviation Administration and began the painstaking work of restoration, which remains far from completion. The Justice Department sued Cralley on behalf of the Navy on Wednesday, seeking the plane, the cost of returning it and compensation for any damage since Cralley recovered it.

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[Skyclad1uhm1]

Talking about lame...

 

[thereds]

The Govt will win.

I hope I'm wrong.

 

[Vonkhan]

the govt wont win ... abandonware ... learnt about this in business law, they dont have a chance

 

[Bulk Beef]

I think I remember hearing about the Navy losing cases like this over WW2 aircraft recovered from the Great Lakes.

 

[Fritzo]

They tried to do this with a WWII howitzer some gut had in his yard around here. The story was supposedly if the Army still has the serial number in it's records, it is required to keep possession of the equipment. What happened is the govt won the case, took possession, then gave the gun back to the owner after they "retired" it as a "museum dontation." What a waste of money.

 

[BDawg]

Originally posted by: Vonkhan
the govt wont win ... abandonware ... learnt about this in business law, they dont have a chance

There's lots of things which hold true for private business but do not hold true for the government.

 

[skace]

That sucks, especially since hes an airplane buff who is trying to restore it.

 

[TerryMathews]

This guys case would have been much stronger if he had notified the Navy dep't as soon as he recovered the plane and asked for the gov't to sign it's rights away to it.

 

[Hammer]

the guy will lose. i believe courts have held up the belief that the navy owns its ships and aircraft in perpetuity.

 

[TheGameIs21]

Originally posted by: BDawg

Originally posted by: Vonkhan
the govt wont win ... abandonware ... learnt about this in business law, they dont have a chance

There's lots of things which hold true for private business but do not hold true for the government.