Man sues late father’s company and estate for fatal plane crash
SUN-TIMES MEDIA July 12, 2012 9:52AM
This July 13, 2010, photo provided by The St. Ignace News shows the wreckage of small plane that crashed after takeoff from the Mackinac County Airport in St. Ignace, Mich. The pilot Moshe Menora, 73, of Skokie, Ill., and three of his granddaughters Rikki Menora, 16; Rachel Menora, 14; and Sara Klein, 17, visiting from Israel were killed in the crash. A 13-year-old grandson Yossi Menora, who was hospitalized after being ejected from the aircraft, was the only survivor. (AP Photo/The St. Ignace News) MANDATORY CREDIT, NO SALES
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Updated: August 14, 2012 6:23AM
The son of a Skokie businessman is suing his father’s business and estate over a 2010 plane crash that killed the father and the plaintiff’s two children.
Moshe Menora, 73, and his teenage granddaughters Rikki Menora, Rachel Menora and Sara Klein, were killed in the July 13 plane crash in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. His grandson, 13-year-old Yossi Menora was ejected from the plane and survived.
The children were visiting their grandfather from Israel, and they were returning to Menora’s home in Skokie from a special day trip to Mackinac Island when Menora lost control of his plane. The twin-engine Beechcraft Model 58 flipped and crashed onto Interstate 75 and caught fire.
Shalom Menora, Moshe’s son and the father of two of the teen girls, filed a lawsuit in Cook County Circuit Court Wednesday blaming his father for failing to keep proper control of the aircraft and for continuing with the flight even after several take-off attempts were aborted.
Witnesses told investigators one engine did not sound like it was developing full power during the third and final takeoff attempt, and that the aircraft rotated just before the end of the runway, according to National Transportation Safety Board report. The report could not pinpoint why the pilot lost control during takeoff.
The one-count suit was filed against Moshe Menora’s business Tri-United Management, which owned the plane, as well as two executors of his estate. It seeks at least $50,000 in damages.
