Google Cofounder Settles Wrongful Death Lawsuit of Private Pilot

Viking Air Twin Otter Series 400 crashed in the Pacific Ocean, killing two pilots.

Caleb Revill

Friday, May 16, 2025 at 09:30 AM ET

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Edited By:

Ryan Ewing

Viking Air aircraft [Courtesy: Shutterstock | Jordan Tan]

Key Takeaways:

Google cofounder Sergey Brin has settled a wrongful death lawsuit with the family of a pilot, Dean Rushfeldt, who died in a May 2023 plane crash involving an aircraft owned by Brin and associated entities.
The crash, which killed two pilots, occurred during a ferry flight from California to Hawaii and was caused by a failure of the aircraft's ferry fuel system to transfer fuel to the main tanks.
The lawsuit alleged negligence, improper installation of the ferry fuel system, and violations of Federal Aviation Regulations as contributing factors to the crash.

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Google cofounder Sergey Brin has settled a wrongful death lawsuit with the family of a pilot killed in a crash while flying a private aircraft owned by Brin, Bayshore Global Management, and Google.

Dean Rushfeldt was one of two pilots killed in the crash while transporting a Viking Air DHC-6 Twin Otter Series 400 from Schulz-Sonoma County Airport (KSTS) in Santa Rosa, California, to Inouye International Airport in Honolulu (KHNL) in May 2023. No other passengers were on board the airplane.