Tue, Apr 27, 2010
Also Names State Police, And Surveying Company Which Hired The
Pilot
One of the passengers aboard a Cessna 337A which went down in a
wooded area of New Jersey in 2008 has sued the pilot's estate, as
well as the state police whom she says called off their search too
early. The suit was filed by Jacalyn Brown of Galloway Township in
New Jersey. The accident killed the pilot, John Ambroult of
Massachusetts, as well as marine scientist Stephen Claussen from
Washington state. A fourth person, scientist Juan Carlos Salinas
from Mexico City, Mexico, was also injured in the crash.
In her lawsuit, Brown says her employer, Geo-Marine Inc., was
"specifically advised that the aircraft was unsafe." Geo-Marine had
hired Ambroult and his plane to conduct offshore survey work.
The Press of Atlantic City reports that Ms. Brown's team
reported several issues with the airplane following a flight on
April 18th, 2008, in which there was smoke in the cockpit that
seemed to be electrical in origin. The report said the pilot
"didn't seem to be on his best game with regards to flying," and
that Ambroult told them that the smoke "was not an issue and it
only affects fuel gauges." There were also problems reported with
radio communications.
The NTSB gave insufficient fuel and improper in-flight fuel
management as the probable causes of the accident, with pilot
fatigue a contributing factor. The probable cause report also
indicated that the ELT beacon battery was four years out of date.
The ELT was still inoperative when a fresh battery was attached
during the investigation.
That is significant because, while several witnesses saw the
plane go down, state police had a difficult time locating the
accident scene. Authorities called off the first search after two
hours when they were unable to locate the wreckage. Ms. Brown says
the length of the search caused her injuries to worsen. The
accident site was located nearly four hours after the airplane went
down just before 1300 local time.
Ms. Brown would not discuss the lawsuit, which was filed in
Ocean County Civil Court and seeks unspecified damages.
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