Pilot, Event Organizers Named As Defendants

A lawsuit was filed his week regarding a 2004 accident involving a Stearman biplane, that claimed the life of a 39-year-old female passenger.

As ANN reported, Mark Strub was at the controls of the 1941 PT-13 when it struck power lines, and came to rest inverted in the Wisconsin River. Strub survived the accident, but he wasn't able to free passenger Kimberly Reed, who suffered a broken neck.

"I was upside down in the water, drowning, thinking, 'My God, I've got to get to my passenger,'" Strub said in 2004. "It wasn't possible." The coroner later said Reed likely died on impact.

Strub is due to go to trial next February, on a criminal charge of negligent homicide. He is named in the lawsuit filed this week by widower Kevin Reed, along with the Children's Miracle Network Committee -- which sponsored the August 2004 balloon rally Strub was giving plane rides at.

Rides were given for a suggested donation of $10. According to the NTSB report, Strub performed a series of aerobatics during Reed's ride, reportedly at her request.

The lawsuit claims event organizers required pilots giving rides there to fill out an application, and show proof of a commercial pilots license and adequate insurance coverage, in order to fly.

Strub didn't fill out an application, according to the Wisconsin Rapids Tribune, and did not carry the needed insurance. The lawsuit claims the Childrens Miracle Network organizers knowingly allowed Strub to fly anyway.

The lawsuit does not name a specific dollar figure, but asks for reimbursement of Kimberly Reed's medical and funeral expenses, as well as perpetual care charges. It also asks for compensation for loss of companionship.

Strub told local news outlets after the accident he had been flying for about 2.5 years, and had his private license for two years. He was working towards his commercial rating, he said, and had about 300 total hours at the time of the accident.

Other defendants named in the lawsuit include St. Joseph's Hospital, Alexandar Field/South Wood County Airport (where the rally was held), and the communities of Wisconsin Rapids, Grand Rapids, and the village of Port Edwards and Domtar.

Several insurance companies are also named as defendants, according to the Tribune, as is Wisconsin Power and Light... for failing to properly mark the power lines the plane impacted, according to the lawsuit.

FMI: Read The Probable Cause Report