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TDI joins settlement over fatal 2013 plane crash
Another company has agreed to settle a lawsuit filed in federal court by a widow and child of a man who was among three persons killed during a plane crash on Tinian in 2013.
Top Development Inc. joined co-defendants Tinian Transportation Management Solutions Inc., Star Marianas Air Inc., and Luis Silva in settling the lawsuit.
Attorney Stephen J. Nutting is counsel for Top Development. Attorney Timothy H. Bellas is counsel for Tinian Transportation Management Solutions Inc., Star Marianas Air Inc., and Silva.
Attorney James W. Vititoe is representing plaintiffs Li Sha Gu and her minor child, Yu Xin Wu.
Attorneys Nutting, Bellas, and Vititoe informed the U.S. District Court for the NMI on Wednesday that they have agreed to settle this matter.
The parties asked the court to dismiss the lawsuit with prejudice as to all defendants.
Dismiss with prejudice means the plaintiffs cannot re-open the case.
The parties requested the court to retain jurisdiction solely for the purpose of enforcing the settlement.
The lawyers did not disclose the terms of the settlement involving Top Development.
Last month, the federal court approved a $300,000 settlement deal on behalf of the minor Yuxin Wu.
U.S. District Court for the NMI Magistrate Judge Heather L. Kennedy found the settlement fair and reasonable for the minor considering the facts of the case, and the child’s claims, and the typical recovery in similar cases.
Lisha Gu and her minor daughter, Yuxin Wu, were among the four survivors in a Piper aircraft that crashed on Tinian in October 2013. Gu’s husband and Wu’s father, Xuan Wu, was among the three passengers killed in that crash.
Silva and a Chinese female tourist were the two other fatalities.
Lisha Gu and the child sustained injuries. They are currently residing in Shanghai, China. They sued Tinian Transportation Management Solutions Inc., Star Marianas Air Inc., the plane’s pilot Silva, and 10 unnamed co-defendants, for negligence-wrongful death, negligence, loss of consortium, and negligent infliction of emotional distress.
