The family of a Los Angeles man who was killed when a chartered jet crashed in Aspen, Colo. last March filed a wrongful death lawsuit Friday against the plane’s owner and operator, as well as the estates of the pilots.
The family of Mario Aguilar, represented by Santa Monica-based attorney Brian Panish, sued Airborne Charter Inc., the company to which the jet was registered and Avjet Corp., which housed the plane in a hangar at Burbank Airport.
On March 29, 2001, the 20-year-old Gulfstream twin engine jet, which was en route from Los Angeles to Aspen, slammed into a hillside just 500 yards short of Aspen’s runway in a light snowstorm. All 15 passengers and the three crew members aboard were killed.
The passengers, mostly in entertainment and media businesses in the Los Angeles area, had chartered the plane for a weekend birthday party for one of them in the resort town, which was nearing the end of its winter season.
Airborne Charter is run by Santa Monica-based Cinergi Pictures founder and producer Andrew G. Vajna, who is responsible for films like “First Blood,” “Total Recall,” “Air America” and “Jacob’s Ladder.”
The estates of pilot Robert Frisbie and co-pilot Peter Kowalczyk also are targeted in the suit, which was filed in downtown Los Angeles Superior Court.
The families of several other victims have filed similar lawsuits, some of which have been settled, according to Panish.
The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages, claiming the plane was flown “in a negligent, wanton, reckless, tortious and unlawful manner.”
Panish said he has asked the court for a jury trial in the next 120 days because Aguilar’s father, Julius Szabo, who is one of the plaintiffs, is 80 years old.
Panish said the plane attempted to land in bad weather to avoid a costly detour.
“They tried to beat the curfew and hurried a risky landing in Aspen to avoid the expense of getting detoured to a safer, but less convenient airport,” he said.
“They tried to beat the curfew and hurried a risky landing in Aspen to avoid the expense of getting detoured to a safer, but less convenient airport.” — — BRIAN PANISH Plaintiff’s attorney
Szabo said he filed the lawsuit because his son meant “the world to me.”
“I want to know how this could have happened, and why this reckless behavior was allowed,” he said.
Officials from Avjet declined comment.
Federal authorities have not yet issued a report on the cause of the crash. However, transcripts of the cockpit recorder and facts revealed in the investigation indicate that the pilots failed to consider vital information as they attempted to beat Aspen’s 7 p.m. curfew.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on March 9, 2002. Read the original PDF.