Families Have Sued The FAA Claiming Air Traffic Controllers Were Negligent

A trial got underway Monday brought against the FAA by the families of two people fatally injured when an airplane impacted a house in Palm Coast, FL in June of 2013.

After experiencing engine issues, Pilot Michael Anders was instructed to fly a circuit around Flagler Executive Airport. But the engine failed, and the aircraft went down, impacting a house in a residential neighborhood. Anders and his two passengers, Charisse Peoples and Dwayne Shaw, were fatally injured. Two people escaped from the burning home.

The families of Anders and Peoples sued the FAA, saying the controllers at Daytona Beach were negligent in ordering the circuit around the airport. Shaw's family did not participate in the suit, according to the Daytona Beach News-Journal.

The attorney representing Peoples' family said the controllers required Anders to fly an "unauthorized" surveillance radar approach. The play stayed airborne for 31 miles before it finally went down. Attorney Timothy Loranger said that the controllers "made that decision for the pilot, rather than give him an option."

Court documents show that at one point, the pilot was directed to fly out over the Atlantic Ocean. 

The non-jury trial got underway Monday before U.S. District Judge John Antoon II in federal court in Orlando. It is expected to last about two weeks.

FMI: Original Report