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Google cofounder Sergey Brin is being sued by the widow of a pilot in a deadly 2023 plane crash, alleging Brin blocked recovery efforts and had faulty and illegally installed mechanics on his plane. The wrongful death suit was filed Feb. 8 and the case is pending.
On May 20, 2023 a de Havilland DHC-6-400 (N153QS) owned by the Brin's financial investment firm, Bayshore Global Management, crashed into the Pacific Ocean near Half Moon Bay, California, killing the pilot Lance Maclean and copilot Dean Rushfeldt. The DHC-6 departed the Charles M Schulz-Sonoma County Airport (STS) in Santa Rosa and headed to Daniel K Inouye International Airport (HNL) in Honolulu on a trip to Brin's private island in Fiji. The NTSB preliminary report said the satellite flight tracking data showed the plane on a southwest heading over the ocean at about 15,500 ft mean sea level. Four hours into the flight the crew contacted ATC to report a problem transferring fuel from the ferry tanks and indicating an intended return. About 356 miles from the California coast the flight track reversed course to the northeast to STS. The flight crew reported that they had lost fuel pressure and an engine. The last few minutes of data show a drop from about 3,600 to 240 ft msl and the last track data point was roughly 33 miles off the coast.
The Los Angeles Times reported that in the final minutes of the flight the ATC reassured the two pilots, saying, "Hang in there guys. We'll come get you."
The U.S. Coast guard responded to the scene just minutes after the crash and the plane was found flipped with the cockpit submerged. LA Times reported that a rescue swimmer jumped into the water and found the occupants lifeless inside of the plane, but due to USCG policy, without air tanks the swimmer cannot enter the submerged compartment. The NTSB prelim said the fuselage was inverted and the wings and engines had separated from the plane. The horizontal stabilizer was partially attached to the empennage and the forward fuselage had impact damage. The USCG dispatched a helicopter, plane and boats to the scene but aircraft and occupant recovery was not performed. The wreckage has since sunk to the bottom of the ocean.
Maclean's widow, Maria Magdalena Olarte, filed the complaint and asked for at least $150,000 in damages, according to SFGATE. The complaint alleged that Brin was partially responsible for the death and the struggle to retrieve his body. The two pilots were on a ferry flight to bring the plane to Fiji so Brin's guests could go island hopping. The complaint names Brin, Bayshore Global Management, the aircraft maintenance company Seafly, Seafly aviation director Theodore Neale, flight tester Southern Cross Aviation and Google as defendents, according to SFGATE.
According to Fortune, the aircraft did not have the fuel capacity to reach Hawaii so Brin and others authorized a mechanic to install an auxiliary system inside the fuselage to increase capacity. The suit alleges that the mechanic did not have an assembly checklist and illegally installed the system from memory. Fortune said the suit alleged that during the fatal flight, the fuel was not transferring from the auxiliary system to the main tanks, leading to the crash. SFGATE reports that the owners allegedly did not have the right paperwork or certifications to install the system and it was poorly installed. The NTSB has not published a final report on the crash, nor has it revealed a probable cause. The report does note that the crew radioed about an issue transferring fuel from ferry tanks, then about losing fuel pressure and an engine, but does not include a cause. A probable cause could be included in the final report, issued one-two years after the crash.
Olarte's lawyers allege that Brin worked to delay and obstruct recovery efforts, according to Fortune. The lawsuit claims that Brin's representatives told Olarte that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration was blocking recovery efforts, which it allegedly later denied. The suit also alleges that Brin's representatives misrepresented weather conditions at the recovery site and the interactions with the USCG. An article from the LA Times near the time of the crash reported that an NTSB representative told the publication the recovery efforts were postponed due to the weather in the area, noting that there was a gale warning issued.
"From the outset of the crash, despite publicly assuring Plaintiff that her husband's remains would be recovered, Brin and his agents decided to leave him at the bottom of the ocean along with evidence that would establish that Defendants were responsible for the crash that killed the two pilots," the complaint said, according to Fortune.
The widow has called the experience an emotional rollercoaster, SFGATE reported. Olarte said she wants to give her husband a "Christian burial with military honors."
"Brin is among the richest people in the world," the complaint says, according to SFGATE. "If he wanted to recover the aircraft and the remains of those lost, it would be done."
The case is pending in the Santa Clara County Superior Court and the defendants have 30 days to respond.