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Widow of pilot faults Air Force and FAABy ALEX LEARY and BILL VARIAN © St. Petersburg Times, published December 1, 2000 CRYSTAL RIVER -- The wife of a Cessna pilot killed in a collision with an F-16 fighter plane over Manatee County earlier this month has filed wrongful death claims against the Air Force and the Federal Aviation Administration. The claims allege "illegal airspeed and altitude" of the F-16 and a failure of FAA air traffic controllers to prevent the Nov. 16 crash. Danielle Olivier, 50, of Citrus County, is seeking up to $10-million in the death of her husband, 57-year-old Jacques Olivier. The Air Force and the FAA, both of which declined to comment, have six months to investigate the charges. Olivier will file suit if a settlement is not reached by that time, said her attorney, Howard C. Coker of Jacksonville. The collision occurred about 4 p.m. in south Manatee County near Interstate 75. John Kreuder, 31, and another F-16 pilot were headed to a practice bombing range near Avon Park in Central Florida. Kreuder said he never saw the Cessna, only a blur, "like a sheet of white." He ejected and was not injured. Radar data indicates the military planes were traveling faster than 480 mph before one of them struck the Cessna 172 piloted by Jacques Olivier. Planes below 10,000 feet are limited to flying no faster than 300 mph unless they are in a special military area, which the F-16s were not. A preliminary report released this week by the National Transportation Safety Board stated that the lead pilot tried unsuccessfully to contact approach controllers at Tampa International Airport. The controllers were in contact with the Cessna and might have been able to keep the planes apart. "Air traffic controllers employed by the Federal Aviation Administration negligently failed to maintain separation between the two aircraft," Danielle Olivier's claim states. "These guys were going too fast, they were too low and they weren't communicating," Coker said in an interview Thursday. "There is no question it shouldn't have occurred," Coker added. "It really is an unfortunate tragedy." Air Force and FAA officials said it is too soon to respond to the claim. "The NTSB has published a preliminary report only, and that's subject to change," said Lt. Maureen Metzger, a spokeswoman for the air combat command based at Langley Air Force Base in Virginia. She said the Air Force has offered its condolences publicly and privately to Olivier's relatives as well as the services of its chaplains. "Inasmuch as there is an accident investigation going on, it would be inappropriate for us to comment at this time," said Paul Turk, a FAA spokesman in Washington, D.C. Submitting the Standard Form 95, as the claim Olivier filed is known, is a precursor to filing a lawsuit, said Michael Pangia, former head trial lawyer for the FAA who now works in private legal practice specializing in aviation matters in Washington. Two things generally happen after a claim is filed: It can be denied, or the agency in question can simply sit on it, Pangia said. If it is denied, the person filing the claim then has six months to file a lawsuit to seek damages. If the agency does not respond, the person may take up to six years from the incident that resulted in the claim to file suit, as if the claim were denied. The agency may also decide a claim has merit, in which case it typically would seek more information to justify damages. - Information from Times files was used in this report. Recent coverage F-16 exceeded 480 mph before fatal crash (11/18/00)
Citrus residents mourn loss of activist in plane crash (11/18/00)
Midair crash kills 1 (11/17/00)
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