Steve Rose and wife Marci Wilhelm survived a Sept. 27 plane crash at an airport in Greenville, South Carolina, but both suffered injuries.
The pilot and copilot of the Dassault Falcon 50 jet aircraft they were aboard did not survive.
Now Rose and Wilhelm, who reside in Tampa and have ties to Anna Maria Island, have sued the estates of pilot John Caswell, 49, of Port St. Lucie, and copilot Stephen George Fox, 66, of Indian Rocks Beach.
The suit, filed Nov. 30 in Hillsborough County, alleges Caswell and Fox were negligent, resulting in permanent severe injuries for Wilhelm and Rose.
The suit alleges Air America Flight Services and its sister company, Account Management Group, formerly known as Clearwater Aviation, failed to ensure that Caswell and Fox were trained and certified to operate the mid-size long-range jet. Fox was owner of Clearwater-based Air America Flight Services at the time of his death.
Rose and Wilhelm were the only passengers on the private flight from St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport to Greenville. The plane failed to stop on the Greenville landing runway, skidded off the tarmac and crashed through a wooden fence, according to bystanders. The fuselage broke in two pieces just behind the cockpit.
According to records from the Federal Aviation Administration, neither pilot had the proper credentials to operate the Falcon 50.
The National Transportation Safety Board report issued Oct. 4 identified Caswell as the pilot, but he had only “second in-command privileges” for the Falcon 50 jet, meaning he should have been a copilot.
Fox did not have a pilot or second-in-command rating for the Falcon 50, according to the NTSB report. He was certified only for visual flight and had no instrument rating.
The NTSB listed the flight as an “on-demand air taxi” flight, not a charter.
The safety board said the flight was a “personal flight” operating under federal regulations.
Rose and Wilhelm suffered serious injuries in the crash, and Wilhelm has undergone a series of surgeries since September.
She and Rose finally returned in November to Tampa where they celebrated Thanksgiving, according to Wilhelm’s Facebook post.
“Thankful to be here, scars and all,” Wilhelm posted Nov. 23.
A phone call to Clearwater Aviation Dec. 13 resulted in a “no comment” response to The Islander.
As of Dec. 13, there was no response to the complaint filed in the 13th Judicial Circuit in Hillsborough by attorney Steven Marks of Podhurst Orseck P.A. of Miami on behalf of Rose and Wilhelm.
Rose’s family owns Bortell’s Lounge in Anna Maria, which has been in business since 1977, but was shuttered in mid-April. He was manager and operated the bar. There has been no information on when the bar will reopen, or what plans are for the location.
Wilhelm is the founder and CEO of MedPartners, which was acquired by AMN Healthcare Services Inc. of San Diego in April for $1.95 million.