Lawsuit Filed on Behalf of Carmel Valley Resident Killed in Santa Barbara County Plane Crash

San Diego based law firm CaseyGerry has filed a lawsuit in San Diego Superior Court on behalf of the children of Birger Greg Bacino, a San Diego resident who was killed in an airplane crash near Montecito, Calif., in a remote area of Los Padres National Forest in August 2015.

According to lead attorney David S. Casey Jr., the wrongful death suit was filed on behalf of Bacino’s two minor children against the aircraft’s owner Poddoubnvi Alexandrovich, Carlsbad-based flying club Pacific Coast Flyers Inc. which rented out the aircraft and the estate of deceased pilot David K. Martz – those allegedly responsible for the crash. A longtime commercial pilot, Martz had a history of suspension and revocation of his pilot’s license.

Bacino, 56, was the only passenger in a single engine Cessna 182F airplane, flown by San Diego pilot Martz, which took off from San Luis Obispo Regional Airport and was headed for McClellan-Palomar Airport in Carlsbad. A healthcare executive, Bacino was returning home to San Diego following a business trip.

“The pilot radioed a mayday call to an air traffic controller at Point Magu Naval Air Station stating there was oil on the windscreen of the aircraft and smoke in the cockpit,” Casey Jr. explained. “Shortly thereafter, all radio and radar contact was lost. The aircraft was discovered the following day – both the passenger and pilot were killed.”