The family members of teen and adult passengers who died in a plane crash off the North Carolina coast reached a settlement with the aircraft operating company and pilot’s estate last week. Representatives of the families announced a $15 million settlement that would end the lawsuit.
On February 13th, 2022, eight individuals on board a Pilatus PC-12/47 lost their lives after the aircraft crashed off of the North Carolina coast. Ernest "Teen" Durwood Rawls, 67, was piloting the aircraft along with his adult son Jefferey Rawls, 28. Also on the plane were Stephanie Ann McInnis Fulcher, 42; Douglas Hunter Parks, 45; Jonathan Kole McInnis, 15; Noah Lee Styron, 15; Michael Daily Shepard, 15; and Jacob Nolan Taylor, 16.
After the crash, some of the family members of the victims filed suit against the defendants EDP Management Group and Green Assets. The estate of Ernest "Teen" Durwood Rawls was also named in the suit. The settlement was reached on behalf of the families of McInnis and his mother and teens Styron, Shepherd and Taylor.
The fourth adult onboard, Hunter Parks, was the founder and chairman of the named defendant Green Assets. His family was not involved in the $15 million lawsuit.
After taking off in the afternoon from Hyde County airport following a hunting trip, the plane encountered compromising weather conditions that led to the crash.
According to the lawsuit, the 67-year-old pilot went on an “erratic and irregular flight path” after he improperly flew into weather conditions that created limited visibility. The lawsuit also points out that Rawls relied on his co-pilot adult son, Jeffrey Rawls, who had “inadequate training and experience” to fly into the restricted airspace and compromising weather conditions that they ended up in. Jeffrey Rawls had allegedly only 20 hours of reported flight experience making him unequipped to handle the conditions encountered.
According to a release from a pending National Transportation Safety Board report, the airplane had reached a height of 4,700 feet and was climbing quickly. Additionally, there were no distress calls or declarations of an emergency made during the flight. The final report has yet to be issued by the NTSB.
Kansas City-based aviation attorney, Andrew C. Robb, shared in a statement that the families sought out their lawsuit in order to hold the responsible parties accountable for the negligence that led to the plane crash. "The families are grateful that this phase of their lawsuits has come to a close, and they will now continue the difficult process of trying to rebuild their lives," Robb shared.
