I think this is a waste of a lawsuit. Two planes collided while training on a beautiful VFR day. Planes have unfortunetly collided many times since man first took to the skies. The "see and avoid" method normally works....this time it didn't.

Family of pilot who died in midair crash sues flight school

Edson Jefferson, Andrew Marc Rossingnol and Bryan Sax died when their planes collided in December near Everglades Holiday Park.

JOHN VANBEEKUM / MIAMI HERALD FILE

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BY LAURA FIGUEROA

lfigueroa@MiamiHerald.com

The family of a pilot killed in a midair collision between two flight school planes over the Everglades in December has filed a lawsuit against one of the schools.

Rick Ellsley, an attorney for the family of Edson Jefferson, 30, an aspiring commercial pilot who was killed in the crash, said the family is seeking an unspecified amount of monetary compensation from Airline Transport Professionals -- the Fort Lauderdale-based pilot school that owned the Piper aircraft flown by instructor Andrew Marc Rossingnol and student Bryan Sax, who also died in the crash. On the afternoon of Dec. 6, the two planes slammed into each other three miles southwest of Everglades Holiday Park, at Griffin Road and U.S. 27, in airspace where flight instructors routinely take students to practice.

According to a preliminary report from the National Transportation Safety Board, the Piper plane was traveling 126 knots while the smaller Cessna was at at speed of 86 knots.