NTSB Couldn't Determine Who Was PIC

The NTSB investigated the February 2007 crash of a Socata TBM700 in a bad-weather approach to the New Bedford Regional Airport (EWB) in Massachusetts, and concluded the cause was pilot error. But the board never reached a conclusion on who was serving as pilot-in-command.

Now, the parents of the certified flight instructor sitting in the right seat at the time of the crash are suing the estate of the prominent Allentown, PA attorney and pilot who was sitting in the left seat, reports The Allentown Morning Call.

The lawsuit contends it was the attorney who was seated in front of the primary flight display, and revealed in recordings to have been the one communicating with controllers.

The lawyer, Peter Karoly, was flying his wife, dentist Lauren Angstadt, to Massachusetts to visit a doctor regarding a vocal cord problem. The CFI, Michael J. Milot, worked for Karoly.

As ANN reported, the plane missed its first approach while trying to make an instruments-only landing in the wet, foggy weather, and crashed on the second approach to the airport.

At the time of the crash, the temperature was 33 to 34 degrees at the airport, and there was rain and fog. Cloud cover was at 200 feet and visibility was one mile, said NTSB investigator Robert J. Gretz.

In their suit, Milot's parents contend Karoly was at the controls when the single-engine turboprop entered a 4,000 foot-per-minute climb just before the crash. The paper says they are seeking a jury trial and unspecified damages.

FMI: Read The NTSB Probable Cause Report