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NAPLES - A man has sued an aircraft manufacturer and repair and maintenance companies for the June 2002 small-plane crash that killed his father, grandmother and another woman.
Pilot Calvin M. Miller, his mother, Addie Stonesifer, and girlfriend, Janet Parrish, died when the Piper Malibu crashed in a remote sod farm 25 miles northeast of Orlando.
The wrongful death claim, which seeks more than $75,000 in damages, claims the airplane design and manufacture were deficient, as were the autopilot system, the turbine engine installed in the aircraft and a modification done to it before the flight. The suit was filed May 12 by Miller's son, Jeffrey.
Named in the suit are New Piper Aircraft Inc., based in Vero Beach; Honeywell International Inc., based in Plantation; Pratt & Whitney Canada, based in Quebec; Rocket Engineering Corp., based in Spokane, Wash.; Jetprop LLC, based in Seattle; and Naples Air Center Inc., based in Naples.
According to a National Transportation Safety Board report on the crash, Miller had requested assistance from air traffic controllers to get around a thunderstorm.
Controllers then lost radio contact.