Wife of pilot who died in airshow crash sues organisers after horrific collision
The wife and daughters of a man killed in an air show horror crash where two WW2-era planes collided in front of a huge crowd are suing the event's organisers.
Len Root was among the six men killed at the airshow last year when the planes crashed in the sky in front of a large Texas crowd. His family, including his wife Angela Norris Root, has filed a suit against the Commemorative Air Force (CAF), the group that organised the fatal Wings Over Dallas Air Show.
The family's attorney, Kevin Koudelka, said "Mrs Root watched it happen, and she is not doing very well", talking about the crash which killed her husband. He added: "We need the lawsuit to get into what happened and who is responsible for that.
"Second part of that is who is responsible? What happened? Who is wrong? And why did this happen? And hold them accountable."
Len Root's wife Angela Norris Root is suing the organisers and plane owners for negligence (Facebook)
The planes were taking part in an airshow called Wings Over Dallas Air Show (twitter.com/DallasTexasTV)66-year-old Len was a retired American Airlines pilot, having got his pilot's license back at the age of 16. He was in a B-17 bomber last November with four other crew members when it collided with a P-63 fighter plane.
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Everyone in both planes was killed. The suit filed claims of negligence, particularly on the part of the air boss, hired by CAF who Mr Koudelka called the "quarterback calling the plays for the event". Other defendants i nthe lawsuit are listed as the owners of the planes.
Len Root was among six men killed when two WWII-era planes crashed into each other at an air show (facebook)Audio recordings released by the Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) several months ago appear to show the air boss giving the go-ahead to the pilots just seconds before the crash. In a statement to Fox News, CAF said: "We are aware of the lawsuit filed against the Commemorative Air Force on August 31 by the family of one of our members who was tragically killed in the accident at the Wings Over Dallas Airshow in November 2022. Our attorneys are looking into the petition and will respond through the appropriate channels."
All those on board the two planes were killed in the crash (twitter.com/DallasTexasTV)The group added it will wait to formally respond until after the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigation is concluded. Mr Koudelka added: "Our investigation thus far and the preliminary report from the NTSB summed up is the planes shouldn't have been near each other."
Along with Len, the others killed were Terry Baker, Curt Rowe, Kevin Michels, Dan Ragan and Craig Hutain. Shocking videos posted on social media of the crash appeared to show the fighter plane flying into the bomber, causing both to quickly crash to the ground in a fireball.
Both the FAA and NTSB are investigating the cause of the crash, but their final findings could take several more months to come in. While the preliminary report did not give a cause for the crash, it noted that there was no altitude advice plan for the pilots prior to the show.
"It's a lawsuit to find out who screwed up and hold them responsible because we know Mr Root, the pilot, didn't screw up," added Mr Koudelka.
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