Victim and Attorney of Palm Coast Plane Crash File Claim Against FAA

PALM COAST, Fla. - Jan. 24, 2015 - PRLog -- – Attorney Marc Dwyer, of Chiumento Selis Dwyer, P.L., and his client, Susan Crockett, filed a claim January 2 against the Federal Aviation Administration.

The claim was filed approximately two years after a four-seat Beechcraft airplane crashed into Crockett’s house Jan. 4, 2013, killing everyone on board and missing her by a matter of feet.

According to Dwyer, Crockett has suffered physically and mentally and suffered from the loss of her home, which was declared ‘uninhabitable’ and was razed after the crash.

As a result of the crash, she has been paying for her own medical bills, including the cost of surgery from injuries to her shoulder from climbing out her home window, as well as the psychological aftermath of the trauma.

“For a long time, any loud noise would make her jump,” Dwyer said. “Additionally, she’s been dispossessed and misplaced out of her home.”

The key issue highlighted in Crockett’s case is that the plane’s owner and pilot, Michael Anders, did not have insurance because there was no requirement for him to be covered.

“So through no fault of her own, the victim has had to bear the brunt of all of these things at her own expense,” said Dwyer.

Commercial airline carriers are required to carry insurance, but there is no federal or Florida law that requires insurance for small private planes.

In the claim, Dwyer said he’s looking to expose the consequences of the absence of this regulation.

“There’s a gap in the system and we are trying to get the executive or legislative branch to act and change the law so a pilot cannot take his plane over residential or commercial airspace without insurance,” said Dwyer. “It does not seem logical that a driver cannot operate a car without insurance, however a pilot does not need insurance to fly a private plane.”

According to Dwyer, the solution is simple: Pilots should be required to provide proof of insurance when they file a flight plan, or when they register their plane. Without proof of insurance, a plane cannot take off from the runway.

“The only way I can force the government to make changes to the current regulations is to file a claim against them,” said Dwyer. “We want to see change. I think it’s clearly obvious that the pilot played a major role in his crash, and because of the lack of regulation, he will pay no role in covering Mrs. Crockett’s damages.”

The firm, celebrating its 40^th year, currently employs nine attorneys and 25 support staff and paralegals. Founded by Michael (Mike) D. Chiumento in 1973, the full-service law firm offers personal injury law, bankruptcy law, real estate law, tax law, wills, trusts and probate services, commercial litigation, business and corporate law, land use zoning and development, construction, government practice and elder law.

Chiumento Selis Dwyer can be reached via telephone at 386-445-8900 or on line at http://www.palmcoastlaw.com/. They can also be reached on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/palmcoastlaw .