The two Pickerington-based companies sued Ohio State, saying that the university airport’s workers failed to properly secure the plane before a derecho storm that sent severe wind through the region.
Jump Planes owned the 1963 Cessna and leased it to Skydiving Columbus, which provides sky-diving instruction.
OSU officials declined to comment. Calls to the companies weren’t returned.
Workers from Skydive Columbus landed the airplane at the Northwest Side airport on June 29, as the storm was brewing, and agreed to pay OSU workers to tie it down, according to the suit.
The airport crew tied ropes around the wings and tail of the plane, securing it to the ground.
But during the storm, knots tying the plane to the ground failed, and the airplane flipped, causing irreparable damage, the lawsuit says.
The companies said in their suit that they were left with no airplane for two months, causing them to lose $125,000. They demanded that much from Ohio State in the lawsuit.
In court records, OSU officials admitted that the airplane flipped during the storm but denied that Ohio State was responsible for the damage.
A pilot from the sky-diving company had helped tie down the airplane, lawyers for Ohio State wrote. They also said that the airport “follows the appropriate standard of care for proper knot-tying.”
Last week, all sides reached a settlement that would split $45,000 between the two companies. Ohio State will cover $10,000 and its insurer will provide the rest, according to the agreement.
The Ohio Court of Claims approved the agreement on Monday.
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