Los Gatos Woman May Face Airplane Crash Trial Involving Injured Passenger

Longtime Los Gatos realtor, volunteer and soccer coach Karen Trolan could face trial later this year related to a 2009 airplaine crash that left her confined to a wheelchair.

Trolan, the 2012 chair-elect of the Silicon Valley Association of Realtors, Los Gatos/Saratoga District, survived the accident in which she was the pilot of a small plane that crashed shortly as it took off from the Truckee-Tahoe airport on Sept. 7, 2009.

She broke one of her eyes, both her legs, seven ribs and the lower part of her spine, which put her in a paraplegic state.

The National Transportation Safety Board determined the probable cause of the accident was due to Trolan’s failure to maintain adequate airspeed for flight with the contribution of a intermittent failure of the stall warning system due to a contaminated switch

According to NTSB spokesman Peter Knudson, the Board’s ruling of probable cause after a complete accident investigation is what likely caused the accident.

A passenger on the plane, Marilyn Mitchell, was seriously injured in the crash and sustained serious brain, head and back injury.

Mitchell has filed suit against Trolan to repay the cost of medical expenses.

Mitchell's attorney Mike Danko of The Danko Law Firm, said after more than a year of waiting, both parties are set to start trial sometime later this year.

"The NTSB investigation determined that the accident was due to pilot error, not a mechanical error or an act of God," Danko said. "(Mitchell) is in constant pain and Ms. Trolan has not paid any of her medical expenses."

Trolan, who declined to discuss the accident and the upcoming court case, has coached soccer for the Los Gatos United Soccer League for the past decade, takes part in search-and-rescue activities with the and serves as a board member for the nonprofit Girls on the Run.

“I’m a giver. I love giving back,” she said.

The mother of three said she doesn’t allow her disability to slow her down. In addition to coaching, Trolan said she loves to take part in horseback riding and volunteers with ski patrol at Northstar to provide medical first aid training to ski patrol staff.

Trolan also helps execute Girls on the Run programs in the Los Gatos Union School District that teach nutrition and self-esteem to more than 1,000 girls, and serves as the emcee for the organization’s annual competitive run at Vasona Park.

The outdoor enthusiast also enjoys adaptive snow and water skiing and driving around outdoor in an all-terrain vehicle.

Trolan moved to Los Gatos before her freshmen year at Los Gatos High School and went to San Jose State University where she earned a degree in nutrition. She got into real estate and worked for Los Gatos-based Cornish and Carey where she was the firm’s top agent, she said.

She went to become a senior vice president with