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Google cofounder Sergey Brin reaches settlement in deadly plane crash haunting him since two years

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Google cofounder Sergey Brin has settled with the family of two pilots over a fatal plane crash that occurred in May 2023, reports Business Insider. The incident involved a plane owned by Brin that crashed off the coast of California, resulting in the death of two pilots, Dean Rushfeldt and Lance Maclea. According to a Business Insider report, Google cofounder and families of the two pilots have agreed to a settlement on May 9.

Filed in the Superior Court of Santa Clara County, the filing states that the settlement is "pending the exchange of closing documents and disbursement of the settlement fund". The parties anticipate that the settlement will be completed in about 60 days, it added.

For those unaware, the family of Rushfeldt filed suit against Brin in July 2024. The lawsuit alleged multiple counts of negligence that led to the fatal crash. It also named Brin’s private family office Bayshore Global, and several related entities.

The pilots died when a plane they were flying to Larry Page’s private island in Fiji, crashed into the Pacific Ocean, the complaint said. The flight was meant to go from Santa Rosa, California, to Fiji via Honolulu. But about 30 miles off the California coast, the plane ran out of fuel after a fuel bladder malfunctioned and went down into the ocean. Both pilots, Rushfeldt and Maclean, were found dead inside the aircraft, but their bodies could not be recovered before the plane sank.

Rushfeldt’s family filed a complaint, accusing Bayshore Global and another company, Seafly, of poor maintenance. They say the fuel bladder was installed "from memory" without using a proper checklist and that changes were not correctly recorded.

Maclean’s widow, Maria Magdalena Olarte, had also filed a separate lawsuit against Larry Page’s company and Bayshore in February 2024, but later dropped the case in January. Court documents from November 2024 said both sides were trying to settle the matter, but it's unclear if a final agreement was reached.

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