Sailor is Killed in Balcony Fall at Norfolk Air Station

When fatal falls take place, inevitable questions are asked about the safety of the structure where the accident occurred.

A fall again made headlines this week when a serviceman fell to his death from the sixth floor balcony of a lodge at Norfolk Air Station.

Morgan Hayman, 21, was an aviation ordnance airman stationed on the aircraft carrier Harry S. Truman, the Virginian-Pilot reported.

Hayman was sharing a room at the lodge, with a friend whose identity is being withheld. The newspaper made reference to some sort of “incident” between the two men before the fall.

The Pilot reported on how the sailors were staying at Wall Manor, which offers on-base accommodation typically used by transient personnel, according to Cmdr. Mike Kafka, a Navy spokesman. The two men were on the top floor of the 268-room, six-story brick building, which has concrete and metal railings across the balconies.

Both sailors were taken to Sentara Norfolk General Hospital. The second sailor was later released.

My thoughts are with the family of this young man who lost his life.

The circumstances surrounding the fall are unclear but it’s too early to eliminate the possibility of a defect or weakness in the balcony contributing to this accident.

Recently, Virginia Lawyers Weekly reported on how a balcony fall accident that led to one of the largest settlements the state in 2013, an award of $10.9 million.

In that case, the 2-year-old boy suffered a severe head injury after falling from a hotel balcony in Norfolk. A premises liability lawsuit was brought against the hotel and the hotel was found to be negligent because a vertical bar was missing from the balcony leaving a 12-inch wide gap large enough for the child to fall through.

There have also been a number of cases of children falling from balconies at Virginia Beach hotels in recent years. If you are injured due to a defect in a building such as a poorly maintained balcony, or if a loved one is killed, you may have grounds to file a law suit. Call Cooper Hurley Injury Lawyers at 757.455.0077 for a free and confidential consultation.