NAPLES, Fla. — A class action lawsuit has been filed against several aviation companies, including Bombardier Inc., the company that made the jet that killed two pilots in Naples in February 2024.
THE DEADLY CRASH
On February 9, 2024, the aviation community was rocked when a Hop-A-Jet aircraft equipped with GE CF34-3B engines suffered catastrophic dual engine failure, the lawsuit said. The crash happened on I-75 when the pilots attempted to make an emergency landing. The crew and passengers survived, but claimed the lives of two pilots: Edward Daniel Murphy and Ian Frederick Hofmann.
ALLEGATIONS OF CORPORATE NEGLIGENCE:
The lawsuit claims there was a corporate cover-up by General Electric (GE), the manufacturer of the defective engines. According to court documents, GE had knowledge of serious corrosion defects in CF34 engines for years and actively concealed this information.
Allegations in the lawsuit include the suppression of evidence, such as undisclosed video footage of secret inspections, and restricting service bulletins to select engine variants despite awareness that the defect affected all CF34 engines.
The lawsuit claims there was a breach of express warrant, beach of implied warranty of merchantability, breach of implied warranty of fitness for particular purpose and fraudulent concealment.
CLAIMS OF VIOLATION HISTORY:
The lawsuit said GE Aerospace previously faced scrutiny for its safety practices. In 2023, the complaint said the company paid $9.4 million to resolve allegations of improperly inspected parts sold to the U.S. Army and Navy, and back in 2006, they settled a lawsuit regarding defective engine blades for military aircraft for $11.5 million.
MAINTENANCE PRACTICES UNDER SCRUTINY:
According to the lawsuit, an inadequate maintenance program was a critical factor contributing to the safety issues. GE’s “On-Condition” maintenance protocol mandated borescope inspections every 3,200 hours—inspections that are incapable of detecting corrosion in vital engine components. This oversight allowed defective engines to remain active until they could fail catastrophically, placing passengers and crew in jeopardy, the lawsuit claims.
SIGNALS OF DANGER BEFORE THE CRASH:
A review of the circumstances leading to the fatal crash reveals multiple missed warning signs, the lawsuit said. In 2018, the complaint said GE was aware of issues such as hung starts and Variable Geometry Valve (VGV) corrosion. Although a similar CF34-8 engine failure in 2021 prompted an emergency directive for commercial operators, business jets were excluded from these critical warnings. Furthermore, weeks prior to the fatal crash, the subject aircraft experienced hung starts, but no appropriate testing or interventions were carried out, the lawsuit said.
AFTER THE CRASH:
Following the deadly crash, the lawsuit said GE appears to have made changes to its practices that suggest prior knowledge of the engine defect. A crucial corrosion test known as MP68 was moved from the 22nd position to the 2nd in their troubleshooting checklist after the crash, the court documents said.
CALL TO ACTION:
The class-action lawsuit is seeking industry-wide safety reforms. The lawsuit said it aims to compel GE to issue mandatory safety communications to all CF34 engine owners and to implement fleet-wide corrosion inspection programs at the company's expense.
