Lawsuit against flight school over fatal crash is dismissed

HARTFORD, Conn. – A Connecticut judge has dismissed a wrongful death lawsuit against a flight school and its owner over a 2016 plane crash that killed a student pilot.

Judge Matthew Budzik in Hartford ruled in favour of Arian Prevalla and his now-defunct American Flight Academy on Friday.

Prevalla survived the small plane crash in East Hartford. He accused the student pilot, Feras Freitekh, of intentionally crashing the plane.

Freitekh’s father denied Prevalla’s allegations and filed a lawsuit alleging there was a defect with the plane or Prevalla failed to take control of it before it crashed.

Prevalla argued the lawsuit should be dismissed because the lawyer for Freitekh’s father, Michael Peck, could not identify expert witnesses who could help prove his case.

Peck said Monday he is deciding whether to appeal.