Family Of Woodland Hills Man Who Disappeared During Flight Sues

LOS ANGELES, CA — Relatives of a pilot-in-training from Woodland Hills believed to have been killed in a single-engine Cessna 172N that left from Catalina Island airport on Memorial Day weekend in 2016 sued the employers of the victim's flight instructor Friday, alleging he was unfit for the job and had a long criminal history.

Edmund Bardi of West Hills, the stepson of 50-year-old Edmond Haronian, and two sons of Haronian, Northridge residents Benjamin and Jonathan, filed the complaint in Los Angeles Superior Court against Encore Flight Corp. and Encore Flight Academy as well as Libra Air Inc., identified as the owner of the plane.

The wrongful death suit seeks unspecified damages.

A representative for the defendants could not be immediately reached.

Although the bodies of neither Haronian nor the instructor, 52-year- old Jason Martin Glazier of Encino, have never been found, a death certificate was issued in Haronian's case, according to plaintiffs' attorney Kevin Boyle.

Glazier is presumed to be dead, according to the complaint.

The two went missing on May 28, 2016, which was Memorial Day weekend.

The Coast Guard and Federal Aviation Administration launched a search after the four-seater plane left Catalina Island and did not land at the Van Nuys Airport as scheduled, the suit states.

The worried plaintiffs called about the status of their father, according to the complaint.

After being told by the defendants that neither Haronian nor Glazier had returned to the flight school, the sons called the sheriff's department and a search began, the suit states.

"Although an oil slick consistent with drift models was present in this area, neither the airplane nor the occupants were found," according to the lawsuit.

Radar data showed that the plane's transponder was in the "off" position and so no information on the aircraft's altitude was available, the suit states.

The same data further showed that the plane flew north from Catalina Island and that tracking capabilities ended three minutes later when the Cessna was five miles away from Catalina Airport, the suit states.

Before the accident, Glazier was known to perform rolls and spirals of aircraft during training and his arrest record included allegations ranging from grand theft to attempted murder, according to the complaint.

"Glazier's past history and pattern of behavior made it clear that he was unfit to serve as an unsupervised flight instructor," the suit alleges.

City News Service; Photo of Catalina Airport by Cédric Dhaenens on Unsplash