Iowa Woman Files Suit After Husband Falls From Plane

A woman has filed a lawsuit against an Iowa skydiving company and pilot following the death of her husband, who was pulled out of an airplane door and fell to his death.

Attorneys for Cindy Kidrowski, of Brooklyn, filed the lawsuit Tuesday in Poweshiek County, according to The Des Moines Register.

The suit follows the Aug. 16 death of Wayne Kidrowski, 56, who was a passenger on a small aircraft owned by Brooklyn-based Skydive Iowa flying from Brooklyn to Grinnell.

Cindy Kidrowski is seeking damages for “loss of spousal support” as well as a loss of enjoyment of life and “pre-impact terror.” The suit also calls for punitive damages to punish the plaintiffs for negligent or reckless behavior.

The suit names Skydive Iowa, company owner Bruce Kennedy and pilot Andrew Arthur as plaintiffs. Kennedy declined to comment and Arthur couldn’t be reached.

Kidrowski was told to wear a parachute even though he had no intention of skydiving when he went up in the Cessna 206 plane, according to the lawsuit.

The parachute deployed during the flight when the plane was at more than 1,000 feet. A door on the plane’s right side had been removed, and a “roll-up” style door wasn’t being used, leaving the space open. The wind caught the material and dragged Kidrowski from the aircraft.

“Wayne Kidrowski would not have been pulled from the aircraft and killed if he had not been required to wear a parachute,” the lawsuit stated.

The parachute caught on the plane’s tail, causing the plane to stall and drop about 300 feet, according to the lawsuit. The pilot then regained control of the plane, but at some point the parachute came off the tail and Kidrowski fell 600 to 700 feet to his death.

The lawsuit states that the pilot believed Kidrowski had control of the canopy after it became detached from the tail.

Kidrowski was the father of two adult daughters and had two grandchildren. He worked at a grain storage operation in Brooklyn.