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Does this sound legit? Do they have a case?



https://wlos.com/news/local/family-...sh-tennessee-2022-william-beth-ann-gist#


Family sues federal government, FAA over North Carolina couple's fatal plane crash
by Jennifer EmertFri, May 10th 2024 at 1:19 PM
Updated Fri, May 10th 2024 at 1:23 PM
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Pictured:{ }William Edward Gist and{ }Beth Ann Gist. The Gists were killed in a plane crash on Sept. 5, 2022 while flying back to Asheville from Texas. The two were residents of Black Mountain.
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ASHEVILLE, N.C. (WLOS) — The family of a western North Carolina couple killed in a 2022 plane crash has filed a federal civil complaint against the United States, the FAA, and the Department of Transportation.

The complaint alleges pilot and area doctor William Gist and his wife Beth Ann were flying back from Mississippi to Asheville when they encountered rough weather that caused them to crash near Chattanooga, Tennessee.

'LOVE AND SUNSHINE:' PEOPLE REMEMBER WNC COUPLE KILLED IN PLANE CRASH


Image of a small plane crash in Bradley County, Tennessee - The FAA said a single-engine Cessna 182P crashed in Cleveland around 5:15 p.m. Monday, Sept. 5, 2022. Officials say two people were on board the plane, which was owned by Mountain Flyers Flying Club, a not-for-profit organization based at Asheville Regional Airport. Those two people were killed in the crash. (Photo credit: WTVC staff)

The complaint claims air traffic control failed to follow procedures and approved a route that took the Gists' plane into a critical weather situation.

It also claims air traffic control failed to alert Dr. Gist that the plan had deviated from its approved route.

The family is asking for $15 million in damages.

Read the complete complaint below:

As a former Air Traffic Controller, yes, it could be legit..

Pilots request a route, if ATC can 'approve' or allow the route, they generally let a pilot fly the route they want, there are exceptions of course. but 'generally'....

Controllers are REQUIRED to issue notices by radio that an aircraft is flying into an area of adverse weather. Pilots should know or at least have an idea before hand, but weather changes and controllers are given NOTICES of such that are to be transmitted on all frequencies commonly in use.

Additionally if it is observed that a particular aircraft will be flying into or near precipitation that is of a significant strength controllers are required to notify the pilot and offer a route to avoid same.... An example of which is the fatal accident involving Scott Crossfield, Naval Officer, Test pilot, pilot of the X-15......

https://www.aopa.org/news-and-media...eleases-final-report-on-crossfield-crash

Most pilots will 'take the advice' and go around, occasionally some will not.... If I warned them or notified them it's on them if something bad happens, If I don't it's on me..........

My father used to tell the story of a newly-assigned instructor pilot who was unfamiliar with south Florida weather leading a formation of 18 B-17s into a squall line during a training mission in 1944. All the planes survived the encounter, but three of them, including Dad's plane, were damaged so badly they had to be scrapped.

Is there a ATC call log that can point to the action of warning? Obviously, absent some sort of response from the air craft it's hard to know it was received but a record of it going out?

There is no requirement on the part of the pilot to acknowledge a general warning, one not specifically addressed to a particular aircraft. There is a record of ALL communication that is retained for 14 days.... ALL frequencies, all transmissions coming and going...

Got it - thanks.

There's people that can't drive worth a crap, and keep drivin.

Same with airplanes, cept the issue resolves itself more spectacularly.

What kind of weather monitoring equipment does a small plane like that normally have? Do they have radar? Weather radio frequencies? They wouldn't be so high up that they couldn't have periodically had a cell signal and used it to monitor storms.

I also wonder what kind of weather info the pilot sought out before departure.

Thorough weather briefings are available prior to flight. Once airborne they have the ability to monitor HIWAS(Hazardous Inflight Weather Advisory Service) Frequencies, or make contact with Flight Service Stations that have weather info readily available. Equipment onboard for small general aviation AC varies greatly...

The pilot in command is the only person to blame here. Just people wanting the Federal government to give them a check due to someone making a bad decision.

Depends on their avionics. Most of the small planes I fly have weather, but there is about a 15 minute delay on the display. Some people try to thread the needle and don't anticipate where the storm is now instead of where it is on the screen. Pilot error that cost everyone their lives.

It would be interesting to know how many hours of flight time the pilot had, as well as his ratings.

I've flown C182's before, and none of them were equipped for weather. But I ALWAYS checked weather on the aviation weather sites before I filed a flight plan right before take off.

One time I had a buddy with me and I thought he'd checked the weather, but he hadn't. About 2 hours into the flight in a C172 with no weather equip, we saw the line of storms... Had to get ABQ center to guide us around the strongest cells as we were both fighting that 172... We made it back to Schlemeyer Field, and when we broke through the clouds and saw the runway, we were both glad. My buddy started smoking again that day... (He was a commercial pilot with like 6000 hours. I had less than a 1000 hours at the time, and was flying left seat.

Weather can sneak up and bite you on the ass.

Lawsuits against the government alleging air traffic controller negligence must be brought under the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA) which does not allow a jury trial. So a federal judge is both the fact finder and law giver, and will usually give the controller the benefit of the doubt except in the clearest cases. Even if procedures were violated, the judge must still find causation, i.e. that the crash was caused by the controller's negligence, and that the negligence of the controller was greater than that of the pilot in causing the crash. Usually in very clear cases, the government will settle. If it's not so clear, they will defend with a hard line. They are not afraid of a runaway jury verdict.

Thanks for the info.

Now it's the FAA that does the pilot weather briefings. When I worked for the national Weather Service on part of my job was pilot weather briefings. Lots of times the pilot would come it and I'd give hime the data, then he'd cross the street and check weather with the FAA briefer. We had a lot of pilots come to us a they'd rather get their weather data from us than the FAA. For some reason that duty was taken from us sometime in the early 1980s. I think that probably the FAA was thinking we were breaking their rice bowl or some such. We were told to inform the pilots that came to us that we didn't do that anymore. Most of my co-workers and including myself ignored the order to no longer brief pilots. I did get to meet some interesting people when doing those briefings including some ranking mobster from back east. They were in a chartered plane trying to get to the funeral of another mob affiliated person. They were not very happy when I told them the Reno airport was closed down due to weather. They missed the funeral.
Paul B.

As much as government provides, I still like to be in charge of my own destiny.