After a plane crash in the Florida Everglades killed four passengers, the sister of one has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the aviation company. Nanci Hirschorn claims that the company, Schmidt Aviation, failed to properly maintain the single-engine aircraft.
Hirschorn’s brother, Phillip Marsh was returning from a University of Florida football game in Gainesville. The other passengers killed in the accident were Marsh’s college friend, Bruce Barber, along with his wife and teenaged son.
The plane was headed to Executive Airport in Fort Lauderdale when fire suddenly filled the cockpit and the plane fell to the ground. The suit claims that Schmidt Aviation failed to repair a valve that had cracked three times previously, and that this caused the engine to catch fire.
Hirschorn is seeking damages for pain and suffering and the loss of income from Marsh’s job as a medical equipment salesperson, as well as for burial expenses.
Source: South Florida Sun-Sentinel- “Sister of Coral Springs man killed in Everglades plane crash files suit”- October 16, 2009