San Diego woman among the victims in the Santa Monica Cessna crash
Update 10/7/13:
On Sunday, the Los Angeles County coroner’s office confirmed Lucas Benjamin, 28, of Malibu; Lauren Winkler, 28, of Irvine; Kyla Dupont, 53, of San Diego; and Mark Benjamin, 63, of Malibu were killed when the Cessna Citation touched down, veered right off the runway, and crashed into a storage hangar at Santa Monica Airport on September 29. (source: https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-last-victim-of-santa-monica-plane-crash-identified-20131006,0,448860.story).
The links and posts embedded below provide preliminary news coverage of this flight-related tragedy and we at Pilot Law, P.C. are actively investigating this unfortunate incident. We are keenly sympathetic to the families’ losses in tragedies such as this, having litigated dozens like it in courts throughout the country and abroad. In cases such as this, a surviving family may have legal recourse against various entities, including the aircraft and/or component manufacturers, aircraft maintenance companies, and the owner/operator of the aircraft. We at Pilot Law, P.C. bring years’ of experience and expertise to bear and will diligently and relentlessly pursue the truth on behalf of the victims’ families.
The LA Coroner’s Office determined that two men and two women were on board. (Source: https://www.nbclosangeles.com/
The NTSB has not yet released its preliminary report. Pilot Law will continue to vigilantly investigate this tragedy.
Preliminary Report 5 Unconfirmed Fatalities (Source: https://www.asias.faa.gov):
“A southern California building company CEO and his son are believed to be among the victims who were on board a private jet that crashed after it landed at a Santa Monica Airport on Sunday night. While the cause of the crash is unclear, Morley Builders CEO Mark Benjamin and his son, Luke, a senior project engineer, were on board the plane, according to a statement by Vice President Charles Muttillo on the company’s website” (Source: https://abcnews.go.com/US/building-company-ceo-son-believed-killed-small-plane/story?id=20418804).
On September 29, 2013 at approximately 6:20 P.M., a Cessna 525 Citation slammed into a hangar after landing at Santa Monica Airport. Both the hangar and aircraft were immediately engulfed in flames. The flight originated from Hailey, Idaho. The jet holds up to eight passengers, however because of the extensive damage and ongoing search & rescue effort, the number of passengers is not yet known.
https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-santa-monica-airport-crash-20130930,0,7549378.story
https://www.cnn.com/2013/09/29/us/california-plane-crash/?hpt=hp_t2
https://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/Small-Plane-Crashes-at-Santa-Monica-Airport-225740681.html
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/09/29/crash-santa-monica-airport/2894191/
https://blog.al.com/spotnews/2013/09/hoover_realtor_says_not_his_pl.html