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.
According to a proposed order signed by both the plaintiffs and defendants on Friday, a settlement has been reached and litigation has concluded. A specific dollar value of the settlement was not disclosed.
Fuel Trouble
According to the initial complaint filed in California state court in July 2024, the pilots contacted Seafly, the aircraft’s maintenance team, several hours into the flight and requested assistance with the aircraft’s ferry fuel system not transferring from the bladders into its main fuel tanks.
The aircraft later declared an emergency, citing a fuel transfer problem with 10 hours of fuel on board but only two hours available to the crew. Roughly two hours later, the aircraft reported its position and advised air traffic control it would not make land.
Later National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) data reported on by Coastside News showed the aircraft’s flight path turned around in the Pacific and ended off the western California coast.
With rescue efforts being coordinated before an inevitable crash landing, the aircraft reported being “dead stick” with no operational engines moments later.
Half an hour after the aircraft stopped sending messages, a Coast Guard Air Station San Francisco helicopter located the overturned aircraft and lowered a rescue swimmer. The swimmer reported seeing two dead individuals, and the crew was unable to recover the bodies of the pilots or the aircraft.
Wrongful Death Lawsuit
The legal complaint alleged that Brin and other associated entities were responsible for the wrongful death of Rushfeldt. It alleged multiple causes of action such as negligence, negligent hiring and supervision, negligent training and retention, negligence per se, and other related claims.
These allegations centered on the mishandling and improper installation of a ferry fuel system in the aircraft. The improper installation and lack of adherence to Federal Aviation Regulations were highlighted as contributing factors to the crash that resulted in the deaths of Rushfeldt and his copilot.
The complaint also included claims regarding the failure to recover the bodies of the dead pilots and personal effects, which caused added emotional distress to Rushfeldt’s family.
