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The widow of a Southern California man killed in the crash of a powered glider off Kauai last year filed a wrongful-death lawsuit Friday against the Kauai flight company, the aircraft manufacturer and others.
Ray Foreman, 53, of Vista, Calif., was vacationing on Kauai with wife Cynthia when he went on a sightseeing flight — a 25th wedding anniversary gift — with Kauai Aerosports on May 17, the lawsuit said.
The aircraft crashed in the ocean off Honopu Beach, killing Foreman and pilot Steve Sprague.
The accident was the third fatal crash in 14 months in Hawaii involving "weight-shift control aircraft" that are more commonly known as powered gliders or air trikes. Such craft look like a hang glider with a small fuselage slung underneath with two open cockpit seats and a rear-facing propeller.
The suit by Cynthia Foreman contends that Sprague did not disclose his history of air accidents and that defective equipment prevented the occupants from freeing themselves from the wreckage in the ocean.
The suit also says powered gliders do not meet federal standards for commercial air tours and are meant to be for flight instruction only.
The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Honolulu, does not specify an amount of damages sought.
Representatives of Kauai Aerosports, aircraft maker P&M Aviation of England or Atlanta Sport Aviation (P&M’s U.S. agent) could not be reached for comment.
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