The family of agribusiness man Dan Hutson, who died in a plane crash June 18, is suing Cardinal Aviation Inc. of Murray, Aviation Development Corp. of Seattle, Wash. and other entities claiming wrongful death.  

Hutson, president of Hutson, Inc., died in the crash after he lost control of his Lancair IV airplane while flying home from Bluegrass Airport in Lexington. Hutson owned and operated one of the country’s largest John Deere dealerships.  

The suit, filed in Calloway County Circuit Court and representing only one side of the dispute, alleges engine oil from a leak blocked the small plane’s windshield causing Hutson to lose control of the aircraft and crash. While in-flight, Hutson reportedly told air traffic controllers he was losing engine oil pressure and his windscreen was covered in oil. He tried unsuccessfully to make an emergency landing at Lebanon-Springfield Airport near Springfield, Ky.  

Aviation attorney Gary Robb of Kansas City, Missouri, who filed the suit on behalf of Hutson’s widow, Cindy, and his daughter, Elizabeth, said the suit seeks unspecified damages; however the primary reason for the litigation is to ensure a similar accident never happens again.  

“Mrs. Hutson was real clear from the beginning. She said this is not about money. It’s about finding what happened because she and her daughter want to make sure it does not happen to anyone else,” Robb said.  

Also named as defendants in the suit are Teledyne Continental Motors, Inc. of Mobile, Alabama; Lancair International Inc. of Redmond, Ore; and Aero Machines in Motion, Inc. of Penrose, Colorado.  

Robb said modifications could be made to similar aircraft that would prevent potential leaks resulting in blocked windshields. An investigation initiated by Robbs’ office found there appeared to be a leak in the plane’s oil filter adapter.  

“And I think the National Transportation Safety Board’s report backs us up on that,” Robb said. “It is very, very difficult to fly one of these airplanes blind. When you have that kind of oil leak in one of these small planes, it completely blankets the windscreen and blocks your vision.”  

The Hutson family is also represented in the suit by Haverstock, Bell and Pitman Law Offices of Murray.

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