PALM COAST, Fla. — The family of a woman killed when a plane crashed into a Palm Coast home has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the Federal Aviation Administration.
All three people aboard the private plane died in the January 2013 crash.
The sons of Charisse Peoples, a passenger in the plane, are now suing the FAA, claiming air traffic controllers could have done more to keep the pilot, their mother and another passenger from crashing into the house.
Paul Rekstad lives two doors down from the house the plane crashed into.
"I guess I would feel the same way if I was in their shoes," Rekstad said.
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Timothy Loranger, the attorney for People's family, told Channel 9 that the pilot warned air traffic controllers he was having engine failure and experiencing vibration in the propellers.
"375 Bravo, how many people are on board and how much fuel you got?" a controller asked the plane's pilot the day of the crash.
"Three souls on board and we got plenty of fuel," the pilot responded.
The lawsuit alleges controllers failed to direct the plane to the closest airport using the closest route.
Controllers told the pilot to go to the Flagler airport when an airport in Ormond Beach was closer.
"He could have flown to Ormond Airport. He had sufficient altitude at the time to fly over the airport and land -- break through the clouds and land on the airport," Loranger said.
The plane was less than a mile away from Flagler airport when it crashed.
A woman in the house when the plane hit escaped without injury.
"I would be inclined to believe that he probably would have made a safe landing if he could have landed at Ormond instead of having to fly those extra miles," Rekstad said.
FAA representatives said they will not comment on the lawsuit.
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