Google co-founder Sergey Brin is facing a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the widow of one of the two pilots killed in a plane crash off the California coast in May 2023.The lawsuit blames the crash on improperly installed modifications and claims his deputies intentionally slowed down and destroyed evidence recovery efforts, as previously reported. Bloomberg and wealth.
The latest indictment, filed Feb. 13 in Santa Clara County Superior Court in California, alleges that Lance Maclean and co-pilot Dean Rushfedlt were contracted to move Breen’s aquatic vehicle Flighted from California to Fiji for island hopping with friends. Transporting the $8 million twin-engine Viking Air Twin Otter Series 400 aircraft required an auxiliary fuel system, and the complaint alleges mechanics did so “from memory” without consulting checklists or recording it with the FAA.
During the first leg of the flight to Hawaii, the fuel system failed and the plane crashed into the ocean while trying to return to California. The Coast Guard arrived within 15 minutes but was unable to rescue the two pilots from the upside-down and partially submerged aircraft.
In addition to Brin, the lawsuit names Google and Brin’s family investment firm Bayshore Management as co-owners of the plane, as well as those responsible for scheduling flights and maintaining the plane.
After their deaths, Breen said he would help with recovery, the lawsuit said. But then, Breen’s representatives allegedly told McLean’s widow, Maria Magdalena Orat, that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) was preventing them from recovering the body – according to the indictment. and the Atmospheric Administration denied the claims.
Olat is seeking damages on five complaints, including wrongful death and survival negligence, and is asking for a jury trial.