Incompetence, stupidity or what? - Disturbing accident - Curt Lewis

Boca widow sues over Ohio jet crash that killed nine
WEST PALM BEACH - The widow of one of seven employees of a Boca Raton firm killed when their corporate jet crashed in Ohio last year is suing the estates of the dead pilots and the Fort Lauderdale-based companies that owned, leased or chartered the ill-fated aircraft.

In a lawsuit filed last week in Palm Beach County Circuit Court, the widow of Gary Shapiro claims negligence caused the British Aerospace 125-700 jet to crash into an apartment building as it was attempting to land at Akron Fulton International Airport in Ohio. All seven employees of PEBB Enterprises, a commercial real estate company, and the two pilots were killed in the November crash.

Corey Shapiro is seeking an unspecified amount in damages for herself and the couple's two young daughters.

Gary Shapiro, 35, and his co-workers were on a business trip to scout property when the jet descended too quickly, clipping trees and power lines before crashing into the apartment building and bursting into flames, according to a preliminary report from the National Transportation Safety Board. It is still investigating the crash.

According to a cockpit recording released by the NTSB, flight officer Renato Marchese, 50, was flying the jet with the help of pilot Oscar Chavez. Marchese had been fired from a previous job because he wasn't learning fast enough and didn't pay attention to details, investigators said in a report.

The recording that was recovered from the burned wreckage captures Chavez's alarm before the crash. "You can't keep decreasing your speed," he says to Marchese. "If you keep decreasing your speed ... we gonna stall."

About two minutes later, Chavez warns Marchese again. "You're diving. You're diving. Don't dive. Two thousand feet per minute, buddy," Chavez says. That's twice the rate an aircraft should descend for a landing.

In the lawsuit, lawyer Christian Searcy claims the two pilots "operated the aircraft at a dangerously low altitude with no safe landing site available." They made other mistakes that cost them and the seven PEBB employees their lives, he claims.

He also faults jet owner Rais Group International NC LLC and Execuflight Inc., which leased the jet, for not properly maintaining the aircraft. Air Charter Service Inc., which arranged the flight for PEBB, is also being sued for failing to properly vet the aircraft owners and charter service. None responded to requests for comment.