Tulsa World: Lawsuits filed over fatal 2007 plane crash

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Lawsuits filed over fatal 2007 plane crash

By MATT BARNARD World Staff Writer
Published: 10/20/2009 7:46 PM
Last Modified: 10/20/2009 7:46 PM

Relatives of a Tulsa family who died in a fiery plane crash have filed lawsuits against a handful of aviation companies, alleging that shoddy maintenance caused the plane to plummet to the ground near Glenpool.

The suits, filed Monday on behalf of William Lunn and Lillian Badeen, seek monetary damages for lost income, burial expenses and mental anguish, court records indicate.

Lunn’s former wife, Rhonda Lunn, 51, and their children, Kathryn Lunn, 16, and twins Michael and Adrienne Lunn, 14, died Oct. 17, 2007, when the plane struck some power lines and burst into flames. The pilot, the Rev. Bill Wiseman Jr., 63, was also killed.

Badeen is Rhonda Lunn’s mother and a representative of her estate, her lawsuit indicates.

The lawsuits allege that a fuel filter in the single-engine Beech A36 was installed backward, allowing debris to collect and cut off fuel to the engine. Sipes Aircraft, a Tulsa firm located near Jones Riverside Airport, is named in the lawsuits as the last company to work on the craft.

When contacted by the Tulsa World on Tuesday, Gary Sipes of Sipes Aircraft said he wasn’t aware of the lawsuits and didn’t want to comment. Beechcraft Aircraft Corp., Teledyne Continental Motors and Raytheon Aircraft Co. are also included as defendants.

Lunn, who is also an attorney, said he has thought about filing a lawsuit for some time. Bystanders who saw the crash said it appeared that the engine was malfunctioning before it went down east of U.S. 75 near 121st Street, he said.

“I think there was negligence that was committed that resulted in my children’s deaths,” he said. “You’ve got multiple witnesses who testified that the plane was sputtering and that it could not gain altitude.”

Technicians combed through the wreckage and found that while the fuel strainer was installed backward, that wouldn’t have reduced fuel flow to the engine. No debris was found on the device, according to a report from the National Transportation Safety Board.

Charred debris was found at another location on the craft, but it wouldn’t have prevented the engine from running correctly, the report states.

Swift winds were blowing before Wiseman was cleared for takeoff, and he remarked about the weather while preparing for the flight, the report indicates. Another pilot later told the NTSB that he “remarked at the time how good the engine sounded, but how he was being buffeted by the high winds.”

Investigators found that wind was a factor in the crash and that the likely cause was Wiseman’s “failure to maintain control” of the airplane.

By MATT BARNARD World Staff Writer

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Reader comments for this story have been moved to the most updated version of the story, now under the headline "Suits filed in fatal air crash," which was published on 10/21/2009. So far, 20 comments have been made.