Relatives of crash victims can’t sue plane maker

The NTSB said the pilot didn’t maintain enough speed to prevent stalling.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Relatives of six people killed in a 2005 plane crash as they flew to Penn State have recovered $13 million in civil damages, according to documents filed in a related lawsuit.

However, a judge ruled this week that they cannot sue the plane’s manufacturer in federal court in Pennsylvania.

The six victims — members of two Providence, R.I., families — were killed when their small plane crashed March 26, 2005.

The victims were pilot Jeffrey Jacober; his wife, Karen; their 15-year-old son, Eric; Gregg Weingeroff, 49; his wife, Dawn, 42; and their 10-year-old son, Leland. They were flying to Penn State to see the Jacobers’ son Michael play lacrosse when the private plane spiraled downward and crashed a few miles from University Park Airport.

The National Transportation Safety Board concluded that Jeffrey Jacober failed to maintain enough speed to avoid stalling.

The victims’ heirs recovered the $13 million last year from the plane’s owner, J2W Aviation, a Rhode Island corporation that was 60 percent owned by Jeffrey Jacober, according to court and NTSB documents.

The Pennsylvania suit was filed against Pilatus, a Swiss company that made the single-engine plane in 1999, and several parts makers, alleging system failures.

The turboprop had changed hands several times before J2W Aviation bought it in 2003, according to U.S. District Judge Mary A. McLaughlin’s order.

She ruled that Pilatus had minimal ties to Pennsylvania and could not be sued in the district. The plaintiffs plan to ask the judge to reconsider.

“We’re disappointed, but we’ll see what the judge does in the rehearing,” lawyer Sol H. Weiss said.

Lawyer Bruce Berman, who represents Pilatus, declined to comment on the ruling.