Family sues FAA over fatal crash

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Tuesday, Dec. 9, 1997 | 4:26 a.m.

A wrongful death lawsuit has been filed against the Federal Aviation Administration in connection with an airplane crash that killed both passengers while they were headed to Las Vegas.

The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court in Las Vegas Monday on behalf of Eric Bradley Clyncke, 11, and Kayla Marie Clyncke, 9, through guardian Pace Clyncke of Henderson.

The children's mother, Patricia Clyncke, and pilot Gary Severson were killed Jan. 19, 1996, when their twin-engine Baron Beech aircraft crashed into a lake two miles east of the airport in Cedarville, Calif. They had departed from Everett, Wash.

The plaintiffs alleged that the FAA was negligent by failing to give Severson sufficient information about weather conditions and minimum safe altitude prior to the crash. The plaintiffs initially sought an administrative settlement from the federal government but that was rejected by the FAA last June.