ORLANDO, Fla. (Legal Newsline) - The estates of two men killed when a short plane trip in North Carolina ended in tragedy have filed a wrongful death lawsuit.
A wrongful death lawsuit has been filed in Florida by Jeffrey Dwight Rawls, the administrator of the estates of Ernest "Teen" Durwood Rawls and Jeffrey Worthington Rawls. The suit is against Barry Jones and SIMCOM, Inc., alleging that their negligence led to a fatal plane crash that killed eight on February 13, 2022, in Carteret County, North Carolina.
The case was filed Feb. 8 in Orange County Circuit Court. Teen was flying a Pilatus N79NX from Engelhard, N.C., to Beaufort, N.C., but after 26 minutes, an air traffic controller noticed it was climbing quickly.
There was no response and radar contact was lost. The plane crashed into the ocean three miles off the coast near Drum Inlet.
SIMCOM is sued for failing to ensure its training covered all aspects, systems and control of the aircraft, as well as failing to properly select and train a qualified instructor for it (Jones).
Rawls was part of a group of defendants that paid millions to settle claims brought by the families of the passengers of the plane. They alleged he made several errors and did not have a properly trained copilot. Jeffrey had only 20 hours of training, they said.
The National Transportation Safety Board also pinned the blame on Teen.
Joseph Anderson of Pangia Law Group and James Crouse of Crouse Law Offices represent the plaintiff.