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Family of student pilot who died in plane crash seeks $27 million from Hillsboro flight school, Alaska Airlines

Family of student pilot who died in plane crash seeks  million from Hillsboro flight school, Alaska Airlines

A lawsuit blames a Fatal plane crash in 2023 in Newberg against the employers of an inexperienced flight instructor who allegedly stalled the plane, killing himself and a student pilot and seriously injuring another trainee who was with them.

The lawsuit was filed Monday by the family of Barrett Bevacqua, Lakeridge High graduatewho was just 20 years old when the twin-engine Piper Seminole he was learning to fly plummeted more than 5,000 feet into a house around 6:45 p.m. on October 3, 2023.

Sitting next to him was flight instructor Michele Cavallotti, who the lawsuit said was an employee of Hillsboro Aero Academy and Ascend Pilot Academy. Alaska Airlines and its subsidiary Horizon Air operate Ascend as a recruiting tool. Ascend partners locally with Hillsboro Aero Academy as a base of operations, the lawsuit says.

Cavallotti and Bevacqua died in the crash, while student pilot Emily Hurd suffered severe bone fractures and other trauma, but survived.

The lawsuit seeks $27 million in damages from Alaska Airlines and Horizon, as well as Hillsboro and Ascend academies.

The lawsuit claims that Cavallotti, a 22-year-old who became a pilot-instructor in Italy, was trying to demonstrate the plane’s “minimum controllable airspeed” while flying on a single engine when it crossed the red line and caused the fatal stall. and the turn.

“Demonstrations during flight training must be carefully planned and performed,” the lawsuit says. “Mr. Cavallotti allowed the plane to slow below the minimum safe speed.”

Cavallotti’s heirs are not named as defendants in the lawsuit and contact information for his family was not available. Him, Bevacqua and Hurd They were all close friends.

Attorneys for Bevacqua’s family allege his employers were negligent in failing to keep him safe.

Bevacqua had enrolled in Ascend Pilot Academy in January 2023 and then signed with Hillsboro Aero Academy in March, according to the lawsuit, with the goal of accumulating 1,800 flight hours and certification.

He received a $26,000 stipend from Alaska for training and would be required to spend two years as a Horizon first officer after graduating, according to the lawsuit.

Attorneys for Bevacqua’s family declined to comment, while Hillsboro Aero Academy did not respond to a message.

An unsigned statement from Alaska Airlines declined to comment on the lawsuit, but said, “We are devastated by the passing of Mr. Bevacqua and continue to extend our deepest condolences to his family and friends.”

—Zane Sparling covers breaking news and courts for The Oregonian/OregonLive. Contact him at 503-319-7083, [email protected] or @pdxzane.

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