The lodge-owning Anchorage family whose Cessna crashed just off Ingra Street in 2010 -- and whose young son was trapped in the burning wreckage and died -- is blaming the disaster on companies that manufactured and worked on the plane's engine. That's despite the fact that the National Transportation Safety Board has already concluded that severe overloading of the plane was the likely cause of the crash. But the family's lawyer claims in a lawsuit filed last year in Washington state that the board did not adequately consider a loss of engine power before the crash, reports Alaska Dispatch.
[The Cavner family is] suing three companies that manufactured, refurbished and installed the engine in the aircraft: Continental Motors Inc., which rebuilt the engine; Northwest Seaplanes Inc., which replaced parts on the engine; and Ace Aviation, which serviced the aircraft and engine in Washington and conducted an inspection of the work.
The complaint alleges that Ace Aviation found low compression on two of the cylinders, but the company didn't advise Preston Cavner to correct said low compression before flying, resulting in "a loss of engine power preventing its maintaining flight and resulting in its crashing," according to court documents.
Read more at Alaska Dispatch: Family sues airplane engine manufacturers for death of their son
Anchorage