Four people were killed last week when 2 small planes from a Miami-Dade flight school crashed in midair over the Everglades. The crash, which the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said occurred about 9 miles from Miami Executive Airport, involved a Piper PA-34 and a Cessna 172. After a frantic search, local police and fire rescue recovered the 4 bodies.
The victims were 72-year-old Ralph Knight, 22-year-old Jorge Sanchez, 19-year-old Nisha Sejwal and 22-year-old Carlos Scarpati. Police said Knight was a subcontracted inspector who worked for the FAA and that Sejwal was on a routine flight check to maintain her certification. Sanchez was a certified flight instructor at Dean and information on Scarpati was not immediately available. Scarpati was flying with Sanchez and Knight and Sejwal were in the other plane.
Rash Mueller. is representing Carlos Scarpati.
Teachers and students from Dean International mourned the victims at Monday’s service. “We pray that your peace and your love would be upon them,” said the officiant at the service.
As a result of this latest tragedy, Dean International has decided to shut down. The flight school is home to nearly 200 students from 100 countries, including Sadia Arabia and India. Many students are now worried about getting money back for paid tuition.
Before last week’s crash, Dean International was rocked by a series of tragedies. According to FAA records, Dean International has had 26 accidents/incidents since 2007.
In 2017, student Mark Ukaere was killed when he took a plane for a flight without permission. Two months ago, 2 students were injured but survived when a plane went down in a remote part of the Everglades.
Days after the crash, the flight school’s website was taken over by hackers.
“You have killed too many students,” the site said.
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