The family of a woman killed in last year’s fatal Chickamauga Lake plane crash has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the deceased pilot’s estate.
Multiple people reported seeing a low-flying plane on the afternoon of Jan. 7. One man said he saw the plane go down near Camp Vesper Point in north Soddy-Daisy. After four days of searching, the aircraft was located in about 35 feet of water near an inlet on a property in the 3000 block of Lee Pike. Two victims – retired U.S. Marine Corps Capt. Frank Davey and Lynda Marinello – were recovered. They had been killed on impact.
After an initial delay due to a partial government shutdown, the National Transportation Safety Board – the federal agency that investigates all civil aviation crashes – released its preliminary report the following month.
The report detailed a general overview of what happened but gave no definitive answers about what caused the crash. A final report could take up to two years to complete.
During the preliminary investigation, a witness told federal investigators that the aircraft made a U-turn at low altitude before plummeting into Chickamauga Lake. That was when the plane spiraled down counterclockwise and struck the lake.