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Six survivors sue over fatal 2012 plane crash
Plane used was manufactured in 1969; logged 6,805 hours of service
Six passengers of a Star Marianas aircraft that crashed at the Saipan International Airport in 2012 have filed a wrongful death lawsuit in federal court. The husband of the sole fatality in the crash has joined the lawsuit.
The plaintiffs are Weilian Lu, Yixiao Ge, Xin Hong, Meilin Zhou, Xiaohua Zhou, and Xiuzhong Zhu, all Chinese citizens.
Xiaojie Ge is representing his wife, Lu, who was killed in the crash, and their minor child, Yixiao Ge. Attorney Mark B. Hanson and the Los Angeles, California-based Girardi law firm are counsels for plaintiffs.
The plaintiffs are suing aircraft pilot Jae Choi, Star Marianas Air Inc., Marianas Air Travel, Tinian Transportation Management Solutions Inc., Tianing Travel Agency, Century Tours, Top Development Inc., and 100 unnamed co-defendants, for negligence, wrongful death, and negligent infliction of emotional distress.
In addition, they are suing Star Marianas Air for fraud.
The plaintiffs are suing for unspecified damages, compensation, attorney’s fees, and court costs.
According to the complaint filed Friday in the U.S. District Court for the NMI, on Nov. 19, 2012, aircraft pilot Choi crash-landed the Piper Cherokee aircraft into the trees north of the runway at Saipan International Airport.
Hanson said all plaintiffs were aboard the flight except for the minor, Ge.
Hanson said the plane—a 7-passenger Piper PA-32 Cherokee Six operated by Star Marianas Air, chartered by Marianas Air Travel, and maintained by Tinian Transportation Management Solutions—was departing the Saipan airport on its way to Tinian to shuttle the six plaintiffs to the Tinian Dynasty Hotel & Casino as part of a package put together by Tianing, Century Tours, and Top Development.
The lawyer said the plane took off from the runway at 6:09am when a loud noise from the engine was heard, forcing Choi to land the plane.
Upon landing at 6:15am, plaintiffs asked in Chinese to be allowed to get off the plane, but Choi did not respond nor did he allow them to exit, Hanson said. Instead, he said, Choi did a quick engine run up and decided to continue with the flight.
While taking off at 6:20am, the plane allegedly lost power and nosedived into the trees adjoining the north side of the runway, where a fire ensued.
Hanson said the crash and subsequent fire injured Choi and five of the passengers, while Lu was killed.
The lawyer noted that the aircraft was manufactured in 1969 and at the time of the crash had already accrued 6,805 hours of service. He said Choi has admitted that he and other pilots feared the condition of the Piper aircraft before the day of the crash.
Hanson said at no point before or during the flight were the plaintiffs provided with safety instructions in Chinese. He added that the passengers’ baggage was overweight.
As a result of the crash, Lu was killed and four others were severely injured. Hanson said Lu was dead on arrival at the hospital due to the burns she suffered.
As to the fraud claim, Hanson said Star Marianas Air intentionally advertised itself as a legitimate commercial carrier while having full knowledge of at least three other incidents of wrongful conduct in the previous seven months.
Further, Hanson said, Star Marianas Air knew or should have known that the plane, at over 40 years old and with 6,805 hours of service already logged, was not fit for commercial transit.
