Lawsuit being filed by family of Clearwater plane crash victim

CLEARWATER, Fla. — The family of one of the women killed when a small plane crashed into a mobile home park has filed a lawsuit against the owner of the plane.

Three people, including the pilot, were killed Feb. 1 when the small plane crashed into Bayshore Waters Mobile Home Park, just off U.S. 19 and south of the Clearwater Mall.

The victims were Martha Parry, 86; Mary Ellen Pender, 54; and the pilot, Jemin Patel, 54. Aviation officials said the plane took off from Vero Beach that day and crashed just after 7 p.m. while trying to land the single-engine Beechcraft V35B at Clearwater Airpark.

Now, Pender’s husband, Robert Dixon, is suing the company that owns the plane.

According to Spectrum Bay News 9’s partner newspaper the Tampa Bay Times, Dixon’s lawsuit states that Patel and Control Data failed to “maintain and operate the airplane in a safe manner, thereby causing the crash.” Dixon is seeking damages in excess of $50,000.

The National Transportation Safety Board is still investigating the crash.

According to a preliminary report, Patel broadcast on the Common Traffic Advisory Frequency (CTAF) that he could not find the airport and asked them to turn on the runway lights which were already on from an airplane that had just landed.

They also stated that after the pilot requested a second time to turn the runway lights on, the pilot-controlled runway lighting was changed to the highest intensity. 

Air traffic control says when Patel asked a second time for the runway lights to be turned on, they boosted the lightning to the highest density.

At that point, the pilot said he had a fire and a short time later crashed into a couple of mobile homes.