Plane crash killed ‘love of his life’ at Florida mobile home park. Now, man is suing
As recent retirees, Bobby Dixon imagined he and his wife would be enjoying their retirement together.
Instead, Dixon is suing the estate of a pilot who authorities said crashed his plane into a mobile home park in Clearwater, Florida, killing Dixon’s wife, Mary Ellen Pender, who was 54, a complaint filed in Pinellas County Court shows.
That evening, the plane plunged into 86-year-old Martha Parry’s home, where Pender was visiting along with several others who left soon before the crash at Bayside Waters on Feb. 1, according to the Clearwater Police Department. Other nearby homes caught on fire as a result, police said in February.
Parry and the pilot, Jemin Patel, 54, also died, according to authorities.
“This devastating plane crash tore apart the lives of several families and a Pinellas County community,” attorney Marc Matthews, who represents Dixon, told McClatchy News on Aug. 28.
Dixon and Pender were in a relationship for 26 years and married for eight years, Matthews said.
“Dixon is still trying to figure out, every day, how to move forward without the love of his life,” Matthews said.
The complaint accuses Patel of negligence and says at some point before the crash, the pilot realized the plane was “unsafe to operate” but continued to fly before it “apparently caught fire” and he lost control.
Dixon’s lawsuit names Patel’s company, Control Data, which was the registered owner of his plane, and the representative of Patel’s estate, attorney J. Mason Williams IV, as defendants.
Williams, who the lawsuit says was named as president of control data, didn’t immediately respond to McClatchy News’ request for comment on Aug. 28.
The National Transportation Safety Administration Board is continuing to investigate the crash.
Patel’s small, single-engine aircraft — a Beech V35B, N6659L — also struck a second home that evening, injuring a resident who survived with minor injuries, the NTSB wrote in a preliminary report.
When Dixon learned about the crash from the news, he immediately headed to Parry’s home, where he discovered his wife was dead after a police officer showed him Pender’s jewelry, WFLA-TV reported.
He told the TV station his wife was the “nicest girl in the whole world” and had “the loudest laugh.”
What is known about the crash
Patel took off in his plane from the Vero Beach Airport at 6:09 p.m. on Feb. 1 and planned to fly into Clearwater Airpark, according to the NTSB’s report.
Two people at Clearwater Airpark said that at some point, Patel broadcasted that “he could not find the airport and asked them to turn on the runway lights which were already on from an airplane that had just landed,” the report says.
After Patel made the same request again, the runway lights were switched to the “highest intensity,” according to the report.
Then, Patel reported there was a fire, the report says.
Patel flew northwest of Clearwater Airpark before making a left turn and flying southeast, according to the NTSB.
When an air traffic controller told Patel that his plane “was 1 mile south” of Clearwater Airpark, Patel responded, saying “I’m losing engine,” the report says.
Those were the last words from Patel that were heard over broadcast.
A person who was riding in a car near where Patel’s plane crashed reported seeing his plane flying in the sky, and then “seeing a ‘fireball’ or something on fire while airborne before the impact,” the report says.
Another pilot who was flying saw Patel’s plane and watched it fall from the sky, saying it looked like “an uncontrolled descent” and that he saw “a very bright light,” according to the report.
“Multiple videos from commercial businesses west of the accident site depicted a light descending steeply with sounds associated with engine operation, followed by a fireball,” the report says.
The plane wreckage, which was badly damaged from heat and the crash, was recovered and is being examined.
According to the NTSB, the skies were clear and there were 10 miles of visibility for pilots on Feb. 1.
‘We are hoping to learn more’
In an interview in February, Pender’s niece Katie Klimes told WTSP that Pender stayed at Parry’s home to help her clean after a gathering the night of the crash. Klimes described the women as “two peas in a pod.”
“Her life was short, but she enjoyed it,” Klimes said at the time.
Parry was a mother of three and a grandmother of 11 grandchildren, WTSP reported. She also had one great-grandchild.
Parry’s family also plans to file a lawsuit over her death, FOX 13 reported.
Dixon’s lawsuit seeks damages in excess of $50,000, the complaint shows. He demands a jury trial.
“In filing this lawsuit, we are hoping to learn more about what maintenance and repair issues may have led to the plane catching fire and plummeting from the sky, in addition to investigating what the pilot’s actions were in attempting to land his plane while navigating over neighborhoods in Clearwater,” Matthews told McClatchy News.
This story was originally published August 28, 2024 at 4:43 PM.
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