Family of Pilot Crash Victim Sues Estate

Lake Worth was shaken by the infamous 14-second disaster last year, in which pilot and entrepreneur Dan Shalloway crashed his plane, a Piper Archer, into a woman’s mobile home. The accident killed both Shalloway and the woman, Banny Galicia. Now, Galicia’s family is pursuing a lawsuit against Shalloway’s estate, claiming that his negligence resulted in her death.

Dan Shalloway, 64, was an experienced pilot and had planned to fly from Kissimmee to Palm Beach County Park Airport in Lantana. Approximately 14 seconds before both their deaths, Shalloway communicated via radio that he was heading towards the airport and would land on runway 15. While experts are weighing in on what occurred, officials have been unable to procure any evidence from the wreckage.

Galicia was sleeping when the accident happened. The crash caused her home to burst into flames and, though her father tried everything he could to save her, Galicia died, unable to escape. The family lived at Mar-Mak Colony Club, a community consisting of about a 100 mobile homes and trailers.

Galicia’s family is filing the lawsuit against Lisa Tropepe, Shalloway’s wife and coworker at his engineering firm, as she is the personal representative of the estate. Dan Shalloway was a revered engineer who helped create and launch Machine Gun America – a gun range hailed as Orlando’s first and only “Automatic Adrenaline Attraction.” The amount the family wishes to procure in the lawsuit remains unspecified.

Thousands of personal injury lawsuits are filled in Florida every year by victims who have been unfairly treated or hurt by others. Most personal injury lawsuits work on the theory of negligence – which is the failure of someone to act responsibly in a given situation or time.

If the negligence of one person hurts another, oftentimes the victim can seek relief in the form of compensation. Many such lawsuits procure millions of dollars each year for individuals who have been hurt by large corporations or wealthy people.

If you have been injured and you suspect someone else was at fault, you can recover compensation for your losses. Contact Morgan & Morgan’s Winter Haven office for more information about your legal rights.