Relatives of four people killed in Jenni Rivera plane crash sue owners of jet - New York Daily News

Relatives of the four people who died alongside singer Jenni Rivera in a horrific plane crash last month filed a negligence lawsuit Thursday against the doomed Learjet's owners.

The family members of Rivera's publicist, make-up artist, hair stylist and lawyer claim the 43-year-old plane was commonly referred to as a "bucket of bolts," had a history of damage and was in "defective condition" before the ill-fated Dec. 9 flight.

They claim the owners should have known 78-year-old lead pilot Miguel Soto wasn't certified to carry paying passengers or fly in regulated airspace higher than 18,000 feet.

The 20-year-old co-pilot Alejandro Torres, meanwhile, did not hold the necessary rating to fly the Learjet model, the lawsuit filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court states.

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"It is hard to imagine an explanation of why a plane flying at 28,000 feet simply dropped out of the sky (without) some significant act, probably of gross negligence," lawyer Paul Kiesel said Thursday after announcing the lawsuit.

"Whether it's on the pilots or the maintenance of that aircraft, it's unclear. My instinct says there's something really bad here," he said.

Kiesel dismissed rumors that Rivera's reported history of performing for a Mexican drug cartel may have played a role in the tragedy.

"I don't believe that there's any nefarious conduct by narco drug traffickers or anybody else who wanted to end the life of Jenni Rivera and those passengers. There's simply no credible evidence to suggest that," he said.

Rivera, a soulful singer known as "La Diva de la Banda," had performed at a concert in Monterrey on Dec. 8 before boarding the Learjet early the next day. It lost radar contact 10 minutes after takeoff and apparently nosedived into the rough mountain terrain of northeastern Mexico.

The lawsuit came in the wake of Mexican media reports that Rivera played at private events for the notorious Beltran Leyva cartel and its one-time boss, Edgar "La Barbie" Valdez, who was arrested in 2010.

An unidentified lawyer told Reforma, a newspaper in Mexico City, that Rivera sang for the drug gang in 2009, the same year she was detained at the Mexico City Airport for carrying more than $50,000 in cash.

Months later, Rivera denied any connection to cartels.

"Yes, it is true that at times you are not aware of who contracts you (for a show)," she told ¡Hola! Magazine.

"They tell you that you will sing at a certain place and that they will pay you a certain amount of money."

The Learjet's current owner, Nevada-based Starwood Management, has also deflected reports related to drug trafficking.

Starwood exec Christian Esquino, 50, told the Associated Press last month that his company has been under the microscope of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration since the 1980s, around the time he sold a plane in Florida to a major trafficker who later used it in a smuggling operation.

"The DEA has been investigating me my whole life," he told the AP. "They're not going to find anything." The turbojet aircraft, manufactured in 1969, was "substantially damaged" in a 2005 accident in Amarillo, Tex., aviation records show.

The jet struck a barrier and ran off the left side of the runway during the Amarillo landing after the pilot ran into trouble maintaining "directional control," an accident report reviewed by The News states.

The probable cause was pilot error, the National Transportation Safety Board ruled.

U.S. and Mexican officials are investigating the cause of the Dec. 9 crash.

The lawsuit filed Thursday also names Jenni Rivera's company as a defendant because someone in the firm probably selected the flight and "may bear some legal responsibility," Kiesel said.

He said his clients – the families of publicist Arturo Rivera, make-up artist Jacobo Yebale, hair stylist Jorge Vasquez and lawyer Mario Pacheco – are not seeking punitive damages from Rivera's company.

"I actually expect that the estate of Miss Rivera is going to bring a (similar) action on her behalf," Kiesel said. "We don't believe she played any role."

ndillon@nydailynews.com