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Sergey Brin, co-founder of Google, is reportedly dealing with a wrongful-death lawsuit in California. According to a report in Bloomberg, the lawsuit has been filed by the widow of a pilot who was operating one of Brin’s planes on a flight from Santa Rosa to his private island in Fiji when it crashed into the Pacific Ocean last year.
The lawsuit, lodged in the state court of Santa Clara County, reportedly claims that Brin’s $8 million dual-engine seaplane was incorrectly equipped with a supplementary fuel tank that failed a few hours into the flight on May 20, necessitating an urgent return to California. The plane crashed near Half Moon Bay, resulting in the deaths of pilot Lance Maclean and co-pilot Dean Rushfeldt.
The lawsuit is also said to have named Alphabet Inc’s Google, alleged part-owner of the plane, as a co-defendant, along with the maintenance company responsible for installing the fuel system and the company that employed the pilots.
Brin accused of destroying crash scene
The lawsuit further accuses Brin of attempting to destroy crash scene evidence by hindering recovery operations. Lawyers for Maclean’s widow, Maria Magdalena Olarte, reportedly stated in a revised complaint filed on February 13 that “Brin is among the wealthiest individuals globally. If he wished to retrieve the aircraft and the bodies of those lost, it would have been accomplished.” Brin and Google’s representatives have not yet responded to requests for comment.
According to the lawsuit, the plane, a Viking Air Ltd. DHC-6 Twin Otter Series 400, was en route to Fiji so Brin could entertain his guests with some island hopping. The Google co-founder is said to frequently throw parties worldwide and transport his guests from the US on his $15 million wide-body jet.
What caused the plane crash
The report claims that the lawsuit alleges that the aircraft lacked the necessary fuel capacity to reach Hawaii, the first stop on the journey to Fiji. As a result, Brin and others authorized a mechanic in Santa Rosa to install an additional system inside the fuselage to increase capacity. However, the mechanic is said to not have an assembly checklist and installed it “from memory,” which the lawsuit claims was illegal. During the flight, fuel was not transferring from the auxiliary system to the main tanks, leading to the crash.
In the following months, Brin is said to have publicly pledged to assist the recovery effort while allegedly working behind the scenes to hinder and obstruct it, according to allegations by Olarte’s lawyers. At one point, Brin’s representatives allegedly told the pilot’s widow that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration was preventing recovery efforts, a claim that NOAA later reportedly denied.
The lawsuit further also accuses Brin’s representatives of misrepresenting the weather conditions at the recovery site and their interactions with the US Coast Guard. The complaint states, “From the outset of the crash, despite publicly assuring Plaintiff that her husband’s remains would be recovered, Brin and his agents decided to leave him at the bottom of the ocean along with evidence that would establish that Defendants were responsible for the crash that killed the two pilots.”
The lawsuit, lodged in the state court of Santa Clara County, reportedly claims that Brin’s $8 million dual-engine seaplane was incorrectly equipped with a supplementary fuel tank that failed a few hours into the flight on May 20, necessitating an urgent return to California. The plane crashed near Half Moon Bay, resulting in the deaths of pilot Lance Maclean and co-pilot Dean Rushfeldt.
The lawsuit is also said to have named Alphabet Inc’s Google, alleged part-owner of the plane, as a co-defendant, along with the maintenance company responsible for installing the fuel system and the company that employed the pilots.
Brin accused of destroying crash scene
The lawsuit further accuses Brin of attempting to destroy crash scene evidence by hindering recovery operations. Lawyers for Maclean’s widow, Maria Magdalena Olarte, reportedly stated in a revised complaint filed on February 13 that “Brin is among the wealthiest individuals globally. If he wished to retrieve the aircraft and the bodies of those lost, it would have been accomplished.” Brin and Google’s representatives have not yet responded to requests for comment.
According to the lawsuit, the plane, a Viking Air Ltd. DHC-6 Twin Otter Series 400, was en route to Fiji so Brin could entertain his guests with some island hopping. The Google co-founder is said to frequently throw parties worldwide and transport his guests from the US on his $15 million wide-body jet.
What caused the plane crash
The report claims that the lawsuit alleges that the aircraft lacked the necessary fuel capacity to reach Hawaii, the first stop on the journey to Fiji. As a result, Brin and others authorized a mechanic in Santa Rosa to install an additional system inside the fuselage to increase capacity. However, the mechanic is said to not have an assembly checklist and installed it “from memory,” which the lawsuit claims was illegal. During the flight, fuel was not transferring from the auxiliary system to the main tanks, leading to the crash.
In the following months, Brin is said to have publicly pledged to assist the recovery effort while allegedly working behind the scenes to hinder and obstruct it, according to allegations by Olarte’s lawyers. At one point, Brin’s representatives allegedly told the pilot’s widow that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration was preventing recovery efforts, a claim that NOAA later reportedly denied.
The lawsuit further also accuses Brin’s representatives of misrepresenting the weather conditions at the recovery site and their interactions with the US Coast Guard. The complaint states, “From the outset of the crash, despite publicly assuring Plaintiff that her husband’s remains would be recovered, Brin and his agents decided to leave him at the bottom of the ocean along with evidence that would establish that Defendants were responsible for the crash that killed the two pilots.”
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