TALLAHASSEE, Fla.- A woman injured in a helicopter crash has new plans to sue the feds.
A trio boarded the helicopter to fly to the coast to dine at Angelo’s restaurant. After dinner they were driven back to Wakulla County Airport in Panacea to head back to Tallahassee.
Their dinner date did not end well though. The helicopter, piloted by 49-year-old Terry B. Ooten, hit a bank of trees and crashed into a swamp nearby.
Often and 53-year-old Curtis Clifford died in the crash on February 8, 2014. Sheri DeVore was injured but survived.
DeVore is now suing the federal government for the Federal Aviation Administration’s negligence in issuing Ooten a pilot’s license.
The Tallahassee Democrat reported that “the pilot’s failure to maintain adequate clearance from trees during a takeoff at night. Contributing to the accident was the pilot’s lack of recent night flight experience,” according to a National Transportation Safety Board report of the crash.
The lawsuit, which was filed on Monday in the U.S. Court for the Northern District of Florida, stated that Ooten’s April 2012 application for an Aviation Medical Certification got approved despite the fact that Ooten disclosed he was taking Mirapex, a prohibited medication.
Mirapex is used to treat Parkinson’s disease and restless leg syndrome.
The FAA’s Aviation Medical Examiner reviews all applications for pilot licensing and determines the eligibility of each applicant. According to the examiner, Mirapex was found in the autopsy done on Ooten.
The NTSB report acknowledged that Ooten was taking this disqualifying medication. It also acknowledged that he had only one hour of night flight training at the time of the crash. According to the agency, the drug’s side effect- difficulty in performing voluntary muscle movements and early onset of sleep without warning- did not affect Ooten because of his longtime use of the drug.