Wrongful death lawsuit filed after plane crashed into Clearwater mobile home park

Wrongful death lawsuit filed after plane crash

Jennifer Kveglis reports

CLEARWATER, Fla. - The families of the two women killed after a plane crashed into a Clearwater mobile home park are filing wrongful death lawsuits.

The accident happened on February 1 at the Bayside Waters 55+ community. Mary Ellen Pender, 54, and Martha Parry, 86, were inside Parry's home when the pilot, 54-year-old Jemin Patel, of a Beechcraft Bonanza V35 crashed into it. All three died.

Pender's husband, Robert "Bobby" Dixon, filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Patel's Estate and his company, Control Data, Inc.

"It's completely torn him apart," Dixon's Attorney, Marc Matthews of Matthews Injury Law said. "Mary Ellen was his entire life. He spent every waking minute with her as much as he possibly could."

Pictured: Mary Ellen Pender.

Matthews said Dixon is seeking justice.

"He was only able to identify her as being involved when a law enforcement officer showed him a piece of jewelry that she had at the time that he knew was hers," the attorney said.

MORE: Clearwater plane crash: Audio reveals pilot had engine trouble before crashing into neighborhood killing 3

Justin Green, a partner at Kreindler Aviation Law Firm, is representing Parry's family but is holding off on filing until the NTSB releases the wreckage to the owner and the firm's experts can review it.

"In this case where you don't have the black boxes that are very important to major aviation accidents, the cockpit voice recorder, you don't have that type of evidence," he said. "Just like in a homicide case, the body tells the story, in this case, the wreckage is the body."

Pictured: Martha Parry.

Green believes at this point the accident was caused by a maintenance issue but also a piloting issue. Green said Parry was a mother of three children, grandmother of 11, and great-grandmother of one.

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"This was not somebody out doing dangerous things," he said. "It's someone who enjoys golf, enjoys socializing."

Matthews said Dixon described Pender as, "She was a light. Everyone that I've spoken with said that she was always the life of the party. Very social. Always wanted to take care of everybody."

FOX 13 reached out to the attorney representing Patel’s estate and Control Data, Inc. for a comment but did not receive an immediate response.

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