ST. LOUIS (AFX) - A third lawsuit was filed Tuesday in an eastern Missouri skydiving plane crash that killed six people, this one by the mother of a former member of Claire McCaskill's U.S. Senate campaign staff.
Melissa Berridge, 38, was among those killed July 29 soon after takeoff from the airport at Sullivan, about 70 miles southwest of St. Louis. Berridge, of St. Louis, was a campaign compliance director for McCaskill, the Democratic challenger to incumbent Sen. Jim Talent, R-Mo., in the November election.
Berridge's mother, Barbara Berridge, is represented by Kansas City attorney Gary Robb, who earlier filed separate suits on behalf of the parents of two other crash victims, Robert Cook, a 22-year-old University of Missouri-Rolla student, and Victoria Delacroix, 22 of Dittmer.
All three suits name engine-maker United Technologies Corp. as well as Quantum Leap Skydiving Center of Sullivan, and seek unspecified damages.
'Each of these families has an objective to understand what went wrong and to prevent this from happening again,' Robb said. 'They believe that if we can correct the problem and prevent future crashes their children would not have died in vain.'
Last month, Robb made public a photograph taken just before the crash that appears to show flames and smoke near the propeller on the right wing. He said the picture, taken by Delacroix's friend from the ground, supports his claim of engine power loss and failure.
The National Transportation Safety Board is examining the photo, the plane's engine and propellers and witness reports, according to a preliminary report released last month. A final report isn't expected until early next year.
United Technologies, based in Hartford, Conn., is the parent company of Pratt & Whitney, the maker of the PT6A turboprop engines on the DeHavilland DHC-6 that crashed. The company has refused to discuss any pending litigation and did not return a message left by The Associated Press Tuesday.
The estate of pilot and Quantum Leap co-owner Scott Cowan, 42, who died in the crash, and Sullivan Regional Airport are also named in the suit, though Robb said if the engine is found to be at fault, the pilot's estate would be cleared.
Also killed in the crash were Robert Walsh, 44, of Webster Groves, and David Paternoster, 35, of Claycomo.
Two other skydivers -- Steve Parrella, 46, of St. Louis, and Kimberly Ellen Dear, 21, of Dittmer -- survived.
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