Air traffic controllers are being blamed for a small plane crash into a home in Palm Coast, Florida by misdirecting the pilot and not getting the distressed plane on the ground as fast as possible. Central Florida’s WFTV Channel 9 news team interviewed aviation attorney Tim Loranger about the lawsuit.
The small plane, a Beechcraft Bonanza, flew out of Fort Pierce, Florida, and was scheduled to land in Knoxville, Tennessee. A little less than an hour into the flight, the pilot radioed that he needed some help after feeling some vibration from the propellers and was instructed to detour to Flagler Airport, when in fact an airport in Ormond Beach was two miles closer.
The lawsuit alleges that the air traffic controllers negligently failed to immediately guide the plane to the nearest airport, as requested by the pilot, and, instead, had the pilot fly to an airport further away, where it then could no longer maintain altitude and land safely.
Air Date: 7-31-2015
Incident Date: 1-14-2013
