Fatal Greenwood plane crash bystander suing pilot’s family
GREENWOOD, Ind. (WISH) — A Greenwood man has filed a lawsuit after helping pull a man from a plane that crashed into a neighborhood two years ago.
The crash killed pilot William Michael Gilliland of Greenwood. Stanley Breeden is suing the family of Gilliland, the co-pilot who was seriously hurt and two companies that had worked on the plane’s engine, according to 24-Hour News 8 partner The Daily Journal.
Breeden was driving along Main Street in Greenwood in July 2014 when he says he saw the plane crash.
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He and other bystanders pulled the co-pilot from the burning plane, but they couldn’t reach the pilot.
“Last thing I remember before I put it in park was the tail flipping up, and I remember seeing the fire and smoke,” Breeden told 24-Hour News 8 in 2014. “And then, of course, it went down and that’s all I saw until the next thing I knew I was right there in the middle of it.”
Breeden’s lawsuit says he suffered permanent injury and lost wages. The suit does not specify specific injuries, but at the time he said he had a twisted knee.
The National Transportation Safety Board said the accident happened due to partial loss of engine.
