Dead Pilot’s Family Sues Over Crash

The family of a pilot killed last year when his small plane crashed near Conejo Mountain is suing the company that stored his plane and the firms that serviced his radio and built his auto-pilot device.

Relatives of Hollis Clay White, 58, of Camarillo filed the lawsuit Tuesday against Channel Islands Aviation, Airtronics Inc. and Century Flight Systems in Ventura County Superior Court.

White died May 5, 1992, when the single-engine Piper Saratoga he was flying slammed into the side of Conejo Mountain about five miles east of the Camarillo Airport, which White was approaching to land.

White and passengers Don Dicus, 51, of Camarillo and Kenneth D. McMillan, 37, of Thousand Oaks were returning from a golf and business trip in Riverside County on a foggy night with poor visibility. Dicus and McMillan also died in the crash.

The suit was filed by Santa Monica attorney Ian Herzog on behalf of White’s wife, Angela White, and son, Brian White. Herzog did not return calls for comment Tuesday.

The manager of Channel Islands Aviation, which rented hangar space to White, could not understand why the company was named as a defendant.

“That’s the way things go these days,” said Mark Oberman, who said he was a friend of White’s. “It’s a bizarre statement of the times.

“It’s a shotgun approach and I think it’s typical,” he added. “I’m sure there’s nothing that we did that had any bearing on the accident.”

Employees of Airtronics and Century Flight Systems could not be reached for comment late Tuesday.

The wrongful-death suit alleges all three defendants caused “this aircraft to crash and injure, damage, harm plaintiffs.” The family is seeking suit costs, funeral and burial expenses, and general damages.