Crash Victim's Kids Claim Controller Did Not Give Adequate Weather Information

The children of a couple who were killed when the Partenavia P68 in which they were passengers went down short of the Gainesville, Florida airport are suing the FAA for damages "in excess" of $75,000. The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Miami, alleges that a lack of communication between the Gainesville air traffic controllers and charter pilot Andrew Ricciuti were responsible for the crash. The NTSB reported that the aircraft approached the airport too low, impacted trees, and went down.

22-year-old Kyle Taylor and 19-year-old Julia Taylor brought the suit following the deaths of their parents Gordon and Barbara Taylor. The couple had chartered the Partenavia to take them to Gainesville so that Gordon Taylor could receive a kidney transplant.

Keysnet.com reports that the suit claims that FAA air traffic controller Clois Strickland didn't provide any weather information for approximately 30 minutes before clearing Ricciuti to land at 2:45 a.m. on November 7th, 2008. Fog was reported in the vicinity of the airport. The suit further alleges that Strickland ended communication with Ricciuti prior to final approach.

The flight was scheduled as a "priority flight," according to Mark Sylvester, the children's attorney, because of Taylor's medical condition. "Usually when you have a priority flight ... they pay specific attention to you," Sylvester said. "In this case, the air traffic controller terminated his coverage about five to 10 minutes before the actual crash."

Partenavia P68 File Photo

FAA spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen said the FAA doesn't comment on pending litigation.

The surviving children have also filed civil claims against the estate of the charter pilot, as well as aircraft owner Robert Valle and charter service Florida Aerocharter.

FMI: www.flsd.uscourts.gov, www.faa.gov