Rathdrum family wins $3.4 million in son’s wrongful death
The parents of a Lakeland High graduate killed in a plane crash two years ago were awarded a $3.4 million settlement from the U.S. government this month.
Ford Cederblom’s mother said Friday that the suit against the government was never about money, but about “trying to right a wrong and wake up the government.”
An investigation revealed the May 2004 plane crash that killed Ford Cederblom was caused by faulty instructions from an air traffic controller. The 20-year-old and fellow student pilot Damon Lott were killed when the plane crashed into a California mountain.
“It’s money but it will never bring Ford back,” said his mother, Rathdrum resident Linda Cederblom.
Ford, the eldest of Brad and Linda Cederblom’s four children, left home in 2003 to attend flight school in Phoenix. The aspiring pilot was described in court records as “a dutiful and responsible son, and a mentor and role model” to his siblings.
Cederblom said the impact her son had on others was evident in the outpouring of support the family received from the people who knew him.
Though the federal court proceedings in the family’s wrongful death suit were held in Southern California – a long way from home – 16 people made the trip to testify on Ford’s behalf.
She said the experience was “very intimidating.”
“The government was constantly objecting to everything that came out of our mouths,” Cederblom said. “It was frustrating.”
Ford Cederblom and Lott were flying from Arizona to Carlsbad, Calif. Four other planes from their flight school were following the same route.
One had a call sign ending in “4PA” – the same ending as the call sign for Cederblom and Lott’s plane, according to court records.
An air traffic controller ordered “4PA” to decrease altitude – an instruction that was meant for the other plane, but acknowledged by Cederblom and Lott.
The Cederblom family’s suit alleged that the Federal Aviation Administration’s employees were negligent for not using the full call sign and for not recognizing that the wrong plane accepted the instruction.
In awarding the $3.4 million judgment to Brad and Linda Cederblom, U.S. District Judge Napoleon A. Jones, Jr. wrote that no amount of money could compensate the Cederbloms “for the loss of a beloved and exemplary son. In a sense, nothing material can.”