November 13, 2013 | By Greene Broillet & Wheeler
Relatives of a California woman who died in a small plane accident in late September are seeking financial compensation from the company that owned the aircraft. The family members have filed a wrongful death suit in connection with the crash, which killed the victim and the pilot, along with two other passengers. The suit was filed on Nov. 5 in a court in Los Angeles, according to official reports. The accident occurred when the pilot steered the plane into a hangar near the runway at the Santa Monica Airport in California.
The woman’s three sons are among the plaintiffs who are seeking financial compensation. One of the other passengers in the plane was the pilot’s son, who died in the wreck. It is not yet clear whether relatives of the other decedent will seek financial compensation in the matter.
Plaintiffs in the wrongful death case alleging that the pilot failed to properly prepare for the flight, losing control of the vehicle and carelessly landing the aircraft. Reports from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) support those claims, as an investigation has not turned up any obvious mechanical defects that would have caused the crash. In fact, the tires were properly inflated and the runway was entirely clear of debris. It is still not clear why the plane smashed into the hangar after landing at the airport.
The amount sought in the lawsuit has not yet been divulged to local news media.
Crash victims deserve financial compensation from the responsible party. The woman, in this case, was the victim of an allegedly negligent pilot and a potentially negligent owner. Both the pilot and the plane’s owner have been named in the suit, largely because the owner may have failed to maintain the plane so that the pilot could safely operate it. Victims who have been injured in corporate plane crashes may be able to recover damages from the company that owns the vehicle.