Mon, Sep 23, 2024
Parents Accuse Flight School and Instructor of Negligence
Parents of 18-year-old Connor Quisenberry, who was killed in a plane crash last year, have filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Eagle Flight Academy and ATP Flight Academy. They allege that the flight school’s negligence is to blame for the fatal accident.
On September 27, 2023, Quisenberry and his 22-year-old CFI Timothy McKellar Jr. took off from their Owensboro, Kentucky (KOWB) flight school on a night cross country to Bowling Green, Kentucky (KBWG). At approximately 10:50 pm, extreme weather conditions caused the aircraft to break apart and crash in Ohio County, scattering debris across the 20-acre field. Radar reports and radio records indicate that the aircraft “was in severe to extreme turbulence and then flying in circles for approximately 3-4 minutes prior to the crash.”
McKellar had gotten his CFI a mere four months before the accident. Evidence came forward shortly after the flight, revealing that he had been posting on his social media before and during the flight. These posts were bashing his student, making comments like “I’ve seen faster at the special Olympics” and “Let me tell you this he is still not the smartest in his class.”
McKellar’s posts also revealed that he was very much aware of the incoming weather, showing a photo of the incoming weather on radar and stating “Headed [our] way like a group of pissed off hornets.”
The suit also showcases communications between McKellar and Air Traffic Control restating the weather conditions they were approaching.
The parent’s attorneys, from Rhoads & Rhoads and Ransdell Roach & Royse, report that Quisenberry’s death was a “direct and proximate result of the negligence of McKellar” while acting as a flight instructor under Eagle Flight Academy.
The suit seeks compensatory and punitive damages, describing McKellar’s actions as reckless and grossly negligent. It also claims that ATP Flight Academy, who trained and certified McKellar, did not properly handle concerns about his qualifications.
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