Wrongful death lawsuit alleges pilot involved in deadly 2023 crash didn’t perform proper preflight inspections
Nia Hinson
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
The family of a man killed in a 2023 plane crash in Camden County claims their son died as a result of the pilot acting negligently.
A wrongful death lawsuit filed Monday by Gary and Penny Vandiver alleges the pilot of the plane — Hayden Ritchhart, who also died in the crash — failed to exercise “ordinary care” as a pilot should. An order filed on Thursday lists Timothy McDuffey as the defendant ad litem on behalf of Ritchhart.
Evan Vandiver, 19 and Rittchart, 22 were both killed in the July 13 crash at the Lake of the Ozarks. Gary Vandiver also suffered serious injuries in the crash.
The lawsuit claims Ritchhart invited Gary and Evan Vandiver on a sightseeing flight from the Gland Glaze Beach Airport in Osage Beach. During takeoff, the plane slowed down and eventually crashed around a half-mile from where it departed, the lawsuit says.
The lawsuit alleges Ritchhart was negligent, careless and failed to perform preflight inspections, including setting the elevator trim tab to neutral and setting the trim tab to the right position.
It also claims he didn’t figure out why the plane was sluggish as it climbed and failed to recover when the plane stalled to avoid the crash. Gary Vandiver also suffered several broken bones and internal injuries as a result of the crash, the lawsuit says.
The lawsuit asks for $25,000 to cover funeral, medical expenses and loss of money from Gary Vandiver’s employment during his recovery.
A park ranger found the plane in a treeline at the old golf course between Route KK and Highway 54 near the Grand Glaize Airport, according to previous reporting. A preliminary report from The National Transportation Safety Board did not find any mechanical malfunctions or failures with the plane’s frame or engine that would interfere with its operations.
The attorney for the Vandivers declined to comment. ABC 17 News reached out to McDuffey.
A final report conducted by the National Transportation Safety Board ruled the accident was caused by the pilot failing to set the stabilator trim before takeoff. That resulted in an exceedance of the airplane’s critical angle of attack and an aerodynamic stall during takeoff, the report says.
The report also states Greg Vandiver said the plane did not appear to be climbing as well as it should have during takeoff and believed Ritchhart was “fighting the flight controls.” Shortly after taking off, the plane made a sharp right, and appeared to go straight down, according to the report.
“Setting the trim ensures that before the takeoff begins, because you might add or subtract trim during the flight, that the trim is set for a takeoff configuration and you’re good to fly,” Mid-Missouri pilot and flight instructor Braden Tyrer said. “It sounded like in the report there was too much up trim, so the aircraft became airborne at a lower than predicted air speed and the pilot responded confused to the controls.”
The aerodynamic spin that happened as a result meant the plane could no longer fly and broke, which at a low altitude is not recoverable, according to Tyrer.
The report also states the pilot did not ask the two passengers of the plane for their weights before taking off and did not go over a safety briefing. The passengers did not wear a seatbelt during the flight and Greg Vandiver said he did not know if Richhart used a checklist after they boarded, the report says.
Vandiver also reportedly said he heard Richhart use an expletive during takeoff, which was followed by the plane making the sharp turn and going down.
Tyrer said the tragedy serves as a reminder to people in the field.
“Anytime we come to the airplane, we’re gonna make sure we’re loading it in accordance with how the manufacturer tells us to. We’re following our duties, checking the weather,” Tyrer said. “It’s a reminder that anyone in our area who’s looking up to us trying to become a professional pilot every day you gotta bring it.”