Suit Filed Over Fatal Southwest Missouri Plane Crash

June 13, 2013

A new lawsuit blames pilot “negligence and carelessness” for causing a southwest Missouri plane crash that killed five people.

The suit was filed Monday in Springfield by Janis Melton, the mother of one of the victims, 46-year-old Robin Melton. It seeks unspecified damages from the estate of the pilot, 44-year-old John Lambert of Springfield.

Melton, Lambert and Lambert’s three children were killed in the crash on Sept. 15 after flying back from a Kansas City Royals game. The single-engine plane went down near Willard, Mo., about six miles from Springfield-Branson National Airport.

There was no listed attorney for Lambert’s estate.

The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages.

A National Transportation Safety Board investigation into the cause of the crash continues and isn’t expected to be complete until September at the earliest.