A lawsuit lays the blame for a fatal 2023 plane crash in Newberg on the employers of an inexperienced flight instructor who allegedly stalled the craft, killing himself and a student pilot and seriously injuring another trainee with them.
The suit was filed Monday by the family of Lakeridge High graduate Barrett Bevacqua, who was just 20 when the twin-engine Piper Seminole he was learning to fly plummeted more than 5,000 feet into a home about 6:45 p.m. on Oct. 3, 2023.
Seated beside him was flight instructor Michele Cavallotti, who the suit says was employed by Hillsboro Aero Academy and Ascend Pilot Academy. Alaska Airlines and subsidiary Horizon Air operate Ascend as a recruitment tool. Ascend partners with Hillsboro Aero Academy locally as a base of operations, the suit says.
Cavallotti and Bevacqua died in the crash, while student pilot Emily Hurd suffered serious bone fractures and other trauma but survived.
The suit seeks $27 million in damages from Alaska Airlines and Horizon, as well as the Hillsboro and Ascend academies.
The lawsuit claims Cavallotti, a 22-year-old who became a pilot-instructor in Italy, was trying to demonstrate the plane’s “minimum controllable airspeed” while flying on one engine when he crossed the red line and triggered the fatal stall and spin.
“Demonstrations during flight instruction must be carefully planned and performed,” the lawsuit says. “Mr. Cavallotti allowed the aircraft to slow down below the minimum safe airspeed.”
Cavallotti’s estate is not named as a defendant in the suit, and contact information for his family was not readily available. He, Bevacqua and Hurd were all close friends.
Attorneys for Bevacqua’s family allege his employers were negligent by failing to keep him safe.
Bevacqua had enrolled in the Ascend Pilot Academy in January 2023 and then signed on with the Hillsboro Aero Academy that March, according to the suit, with the goal of accumulating 1,800 flight hours and certification.
He received a $26,000 stipend from Alaska for the training and would be required to spend two years as a first officer for Horizon upon graduation, according to the lawsuit.
Attorneys for Bevacqua’s family declined to comment, while Hillsboro Aero Academy didn’t respond to a message.
An unsigned statement from Alaska Airlines declined to comment on the lawsuit but said, “We are devastated by Mr. Bevacqua’s passing and continue to extend our deepest condolences to his family and friends.”
—Zane Sparling covers breaking news and courts for The Oregonian/OregonLive. Reach him at 503-319-7083, zsparling@oregonian.com or @pdxzane.
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