Friends of Abraham Pishevar said the 18-year-old sent this Snapchat with the caption "rush" minutes before he and three others died in a plane crash near Willoughby Hills Aug. 25.
CLEVELAND, Ohio — The family of one of four Case Western Reserve University students killed in a 2014 plane crash is suing the estate of the student pilot, the flight club that owned the plane and a fraternity.
The parents of Abraham Pishevar, 18, claim the nighttime flight he and three other students took Aug. 25 was part of fraternity recruitment, and that the flight club did not properly inspect the plane before letting 19-year-old William Felten fly it.
The wrongful death lawsuit, filed Oct. 22 in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court, seeks at least $75,000 damages.
Pishevar, Felten, Lucas Marcelli, 20, and John Hill, 18, died when their rented Cesna airplane crashed minutes after taking off from the Cuyahoga County Airport in Willoughby Hills.
It was the first day of classes at Case Western Reserve. Marcelli and Pishevar were on the wrestling team.
Felten and Marcelli, both sophomores, were members of the Zeta Beta Tau fraternity's Lambda chapter at the campus. Pishevar and Hill were both freshmen.
The lawsuit claims Felten was acting as an agent of the fraternity's national headquarters in Indianapolis when he reserved the plane through T&G Flying Club two hours in advance as part of "rush," the period when fraternities and sororities recruit new members.
Images and text messages that Pishevar sent to his friends from the airport reference "rushing."
The fraternity has denied that the flight was connected to rush.
The suit also accuses T&G Flight Club and its owner, Laurence Rohl, of not properly inspecting the plane before clearing it for takeoff, failing to properly maintain its planes and entrusting Felten with the plane.
A representative from the flight school could not immediately be reached for comment.
The flight club trained Felten to get his pilot license a year earlier, and should have known he was "unskilled and incapable" of flying the plane safely, the suit alleges.
Pishevar's family is asking for damages that cover pain and suffering, burial and funeral costs and Pishevar's lost earning potential.
A hearing has not been set.
The family filed a petition for discovery in September 2014, seeking a litany of documentation from the fraternity, the flight club and the university. They withdrew the petition in December.
Family representing the estate of Abraham Pishevar said they believe the Aug. 25 flight was part of recruitment for Zeta Beta Tau, according to a petition for discovery filed in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court. The fraternity has denied that notion.
The petition names the local and national chapters of Zeta Beta Tau, as well as T&G Flight Club and the club's owner, Laurence Rohl. It seeks a litany of documentation, including communication about and receipts of financial transactions for rush activities from the chapters of the fraternity, and records of the pilot, flight instructors and safety inspectors from the flight club.
The family seeks to gather as much evidence as possible before deciding whether to file a civil lawsuit, Jordan Nebovitz, attorney with Nurenberg Paris, said.
"We're not in the business of suing everybody under the sun," Lebovitz said. "We want to discover what actually happened that night."
Pishevar, of Rockville, Maryland, was killed Aug. 25 along with William Felten, 19, Lucas Marcelli, 20, and John Hill, 18, when their rented plane crashed minutes after taking off from the Cuyahoga County Airport.
The National Transportation Safety Board continues its investigation into the cause of the crash. Investigators would not necessarily look into the reason for the flight, unless they determined it had something to do with the crash, said spokesman Keith Holloway.
Text messages and images captured the night of the flight and sent from Pishevar to a group of friends make reference to rushing, the period in which fraternities recruit new members.
Felten and Marcelli were active members of the Zeta Beta Tau fraternity.
The day after the crash, the fraternity released a statement saying there appeared to be no connection between the flight and rush activities.
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NTSB Identification: CEN14FA453
14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Monday, August 25, 2014 in Willoughby Hills, OH
Aircraft: CESSNA 172R, registration: N4207P
Injuries: 4 Fatal.
This is preliminary information, subject to change, and may contain errors. Any errors in this report will be corrected when the final report has been completed. NTSB investigators either traveled in support of this investigation or conducted a significant amount of investigative work without any travel, and used data obtained from various sources to prepare this aircraft accident report.
On August 25, 2014, at 2158 eastern daylight time, a Cessna 172R airplane, N4207P, collided with the terrain in Willoughby Hills, Ohio, following a loss of control shortly after takeoff from the Cuyahoga County Airport (CGF). The private pilot and three passengers were fatally injured. The airplane was substantially damaged by impact and a post impact fire. The airplane was registered to a private individual and operated by T & G Flying Club, Inc. The pilot rented the airplane and was flying it on a personal flight under 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the flight which was not operating on a flight plan. The flight was originating at the time of the accident.
The pilot reserved the airplane from T&G Flying Club, at 2022 using an online reservation system. He reserved the airplane for 4 hours, beginning at 2030. The employees of the flying club had left for the evening by time the pilot and passengers arrived.
Two witnesses, stated that shortly after 2100, they saw 4 males walk across the ramp toward the tie-down area near hangar 7. One of the males had a carry-on type suitcase. The pilot and passengers then boarded a Cessna 172. One of the witnesses stated the airplane stayed on the ramp for about 30 minutes with the engine running. They did not see the airplane after this time.
At 2146, the pilot called ground control for a takeoff taxi clearance stating he was on the ramp south of the T&G Flight Club. The controller issued the pilot a clearance to taxi to runway 6 via the Alpha 7 taxiway to the Alpha taxiway. The controller also issued the wind condition as 140 degrees at 8 knots along with the altimeter setting. The pilot stated his radio was a little "fuzzy" and he asked the controller to repeat the clearance. The controller repeated the taxi clearance, which the pilot subsequently repeated. About 4 minutes later, the controller informed the pilot that he is taxiing to the wrong runway. After asking the controller to repeat what he said, the pilot stated "Thank you I'm sorry." The controller then issued taxi instructions back to the approach end of runway 6.
At 2156, the pilot radioed that he was ready to takeoff on runway 6. The controller asked the pilot what his direction of flight was going to be. The pilot responded that they were going to fly east to sightsee and that they would be back in a little while. The controller issued the takeoff clearance with a right turn after takeoff. At 2158, the pilot radioed that they were not climbing fast and they wanted to immediately make a left turn to turn around. The controller approved the left turn. The controller stated it appeared the airplane began a left turn when it descended to the ground. The controller reported that during the takeoff, the airplane became airborne about 100 feet past taxiway Alpha 6, which was approximately 2,000 feet down the runway.
The airplane impacted the ground, a chain link fence, a guy wire, and a telephone pole prior to coming to rest about 1,000 feet on a bearing of 20 degrees from the departure end of runway 6. This location is just north of the intersection of Bishop Road and Curtiss Wright Parkway.
The wreckage path was along a 210 degree heading. The left wing tip, including the position light, was embedded in the ground at the first impact mark. This mark was east of the chain link fence. The airplane then traveled through the fence, with the left wing contacting one of the fence posts. The main impact crater was in the west side of the fence. Adjacent to the crater were two slash marks in the soft ground. Both marks were about 12 inches long. One of the slash marks was about 7 inches deep and the other was about 4 inches deep. The airplane came to rest on a heading of about 160 degrees with the left wing against the telephone pole. A postimpact fire ensued.
AIRCRAFT CRASHED 1/2 MILE FROM THE CUYAHOGA COUNTY AIRPORT, THE 4 PERSONS ON BOARD WERE FATALLY INJURED, CLEVELAND, OH
Flight Standards District Office: FAA Cleveland FSDO-25
http://registry.faa.gov/N4207P
Any witnesses should email witness@ntsb.gov, and any friends and family who want to contact investigators about the accident should email assistance@ntsb.gov.
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