Plane Crash Victim's Family Files Claim Against Pilots' Estates, Flying Club

The family of Carlos Palos blames the pilots and the nonprofit that owns a plane for his death

The family of a California man killed in a midair collision has filed a claim against the estates of two pilots involved and a flying club, alleging they were responsible for his death.

Carlos Palos of Tehachapi, California, was a passenger on a twin-engine Sabreliner when it collided with a single-engine Cessna 172 near Brown Field in Otay Mesa on Aug. 16. Palos died with the three other men on board, and the Cessna’s pilot, Michael Copeland, was also killed.

Last week, a Newport Beach law firm filed a wrongful death claim in San Diego County Court on behalf of Palos’ wife and only child, who is still a minor.

The complaint seeks damage from the estates of Copeland and James Hale — the Sabreliner’s pilot — as well as Plus One Flyers, Inc., the nonprofit flying club that owns the Cessna, according to the claim.

Palos’ family alleges that the defendants were negligent that day because they failed to take “the responsible standard of care required of them.”

“As a direct and proximate result of each Defendant’s negligent, careless and unlawful conduct, Plaintiffs’ husband and father suffered a premature and wrongful death,” the document states.

The Palos family is seeking an undisclosed amount of economic and emotional damages from the defendants.

The attorneys for Plus One Flyers, Inc. said they have no comment on the claim at this time.

John Kovach and Jeff Percy were killed with Palos, Hale and Copeland in the fiery crash.

A preliminary report from the National Transportation Safety Board suggested that the pilots did not see each other in the skies above Otay Mesa before they crashed. According to a witness, the Cessna broke apart in the air, while the Sabreliner banked left and exploded when it hit the ground.

NTSB investigators said the wing of the Sabreliner was found in the debris field of the Cessna, though the two crash sites were at least a mile apart. The Sabreliner’s pilot had filed a flight plan with Brown Field, and the Cessna’s pilot had not, as he was just practicing “touch and go’s.”

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