Lawsuit Focuses On Pilot Error

The family of NBC Sports executive Dick Ebersol, who lost his 14-year-old son in the crash of a Canadair CL-600 two years ago, has joined others in suing the owner of the plane.

Ebersol and his two sons were on the aircraft, owned by Key Air Incorporated and operated as Hop-A-Jet, when it crashed on takeoff from the Montrose, CO airport in snow and icing conditions on November 28, 2004.

Teddy Ebersol, the plane's pilot and a flight attendant were killed in the accident. Chicago attorney Robert Clifford told the Associated Press the Ebersol lawsuit focuses on pilot error as the primary cause of the accident.

The National Transportation Safety Board ruled the pilots' failure to properly inspect the plane's wings for ice led to the crash. The pilots visually inspected the plane's wings from the cockpit -- but did not feel the wings for the presence of ice.

The NTSB says accumulated ice on the upper wing induced a stall on takeoff.

Clifford claims Key Air and its agents failed to make sure the pilots were properly certified, The suit also says the pilots were liable for failure to inspect the plane, as well as failure to have the plane deiced prior to takeoff.

As Aero-News reported, co-pilot Eric Sloan Wicksell filed a lawsuit in July, claiming negligence on the part of the plane's owner, as well as several other defendants.

Wicksell also claimed aircraft maker Bombardier was negligent, for failing to properly inform pilots of the CL-600's susceptibility to ice.

FMI: Read The NTSB Probable Cause Report