Ohio couple sues in tour plane crash

HONOLULU (AP) -- An Ohio couple who suffered serious burns in the crash of an air tour plane on the Big Island has filed a lawsuit against the company and its pilot.
Dallas and Catherine Ratcliff of Portsmouth, Ohio, were injured when a single-engine Piper Warrior crashed in a lava field April 18.
Defendants in the lawsuit are pilot Jelica Matic and Above it All Inc., doing business as Island Hoppers, an air tour company and flight school that operates out of the Kona and Hilo airport.
The lawsuit says the couple was stranded for five hours and 15 minutes because the plane's emergency beacon failed to work and the pilot allegedly gave 911 operators an inaccurate location of the crash site.
The couple allege the crash wouldn't have happened had the defendants properly maintained the plane and the emergency locator equipment, and followed federal air regulations.