Family members of some of the people killed in a midair plane collision last summer are suing the widow and estate of former Alaska House Rep. Gary Knopp, and others, following a fatal plane crash that killed seven people — including Knopp — last summer.
William Hulsey is suing individually and as a personal representative of Caleb Hulsey, Mackay Hulsey and Heather Hulsey, all of South Carolina, who were all killed in the crash. Cynthia and Christopher Wright, individually and as personal representatives of the estate of Kirstin Wright, filed a similar suit.
In both cases, defendants named include Helen Knopp as a representative of the estate of Gary Knopp, Helen Knopp individually and doing businesses as G&H Construction, High Adventure Air Charter Guides and Outfitters, Inc., Soldotna Aircraft & Equipment Leasing, LLC and Sandra Bell as a personal representative of the Estate of Gregory Bell.
The planes collided on July 31, 2020 at approximately 8:27 a.m., near the Sterling Highway. Greg Bell was piloting a de Havilland DHC-2 Beaver chartering five people from High Adventure Air Charter at Longmere Lake to Big River Lakes on the western coast of Cook Inlet. Knopp, who was flying alone in a Piper PA-12, took off from Soldotna Airport.
In an interview with investigators, High Adventure Air Charter Chief Pilot Mark Bell, who is also Greg’s brother, said that the flight was the second Greg Bell had made that day, that the first had likely also been to Big River Lakes, and that the trip is usually a 30-minute flight. In that interview, Mark Bell said that the weather on July 31 was “very flyable.”
The suits filed claimed Knopp “committed negligent acts and/or omissions” by knowingly operating an aircraft as a solo pilot without a valid medical certificate, failing to comply with aircraft right of way, failing to see and avoid another aircraft, failing to maintain proper aircraft spacing, operating the aircraft in a careless manner and failing to properly use collision avoidance practices and technology.
The suits also accuse High Adventure Air Charter of the latter five charges.
With respect to Helen Knopp, the suits claim she knew or should have known about Gary Knopp’s vision problems and that he had been illegally operating aircraft for the use and benefit of G&H Construction, a business the couple owned and operated that used the Piper PA-12 for business purposes. The suits also claim she should have known that Gary Knopp operating aircraft with vision problems and without a valid FAA medical certificate posed “an unreasonable risk of harm” to the public and that because of that, she “aided and assisted” the “ongoing and illegal” operation of planes for the benefit of the company.
A medical factual report published by the National Transportation Safety Board Monday as part of its investigation into the crash, reported that Knopp had a history of medical problems with his eyes, including glaucoma in both eyes for which he received laser eye surgery, as well as a cataract in his right eye.
The report noted that Knopp had most recently applied for medical certification in 2012. Because of his medical history, the report said, issuance of his medical certificate was deferred to the Federal Aviation Administration, who denied his application the same year “due to glaucoma and visual field loss.” According to the report, Knopp requested reconsideration of the denial, but it was sustained by the FAA the same year.
The report says that Knopp’s medical records show that his glaucoma had caused “irreversible optic nerve damage and visual field defects in both eyes.”
Just because a pilot has been diagnosed with glaucoma, however, does not mean that they are automatically disqualified from FAA medical certifications. They may still qualify if they meet certain criteria or if the FAA makes special issuance decisions on a case-specific basis. For first- and second-class medical certifications, FAA regulations require a pilot to have normal fields of vision, the report says.
The same report noted no active medical conditions or medication use by Bell, the pilot of the charter plane.
Also in the charter plane was David Rogers, a guide from Stockton, Kansas.
Documents published by the National Transportation Safety Board as part of their investigation into the crash can be found at https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket?ProjectID=101718.
Reach reporter Ashlyn O’Hara at ashlyn.ohara@peninsulaclarion.com.
