An Indian-American woman who survived a deadly 2023 plane crash in Long Island is suing a local flight school, alleging negligence and wrongful death. The crash, which claimed the lives of her mother and the pilot, could have been prevented, according to the lawsuit filed in Queens Supreme Court on February 28.
Reeva Gupta, 33, suffered severe burns and permanent disabilities when the Piper PA-28 aircraft crashed on March 5, 2023, near Republic Airport in Farmingdale. She has accused 2 BA Pilot NYC and its parent company, Danny Waizman Aviation, of ignoring prior warnings about the aircraft’s safety, ultimately leading to the fatal accident.
A National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) report found that an electrical short likely triggered an in-flight fire. The lawsuit claims that the same aircraft had experienced cockpit smoke incidents twice before the crash, but the flight school failed to conduct necessary maintenance. Investigators determined that an electrical malfunction compromised an oil pressure line, causing a leak that ignited mid-flight.
“My mother’s life was lost, and the pilot’s life was lost, and my life is forever changed because somebody wanted to make money,” Gupta told the New York Post.
Gupta, who had booked the flight lesson through Groupon for herself and her mother, Roma Gupta, recalled seeing smoke emerge from beneath her mother’s seat just moments before the fire engulfed the cabin. The young pilot, 23-year-old Fayzul Chowdhury, initially survived but later succumbed to his injuries.
A former neurosurgery physician assistant, Gupta sustained burns over half her body, underwent multiple amputations, and spent months recovering in a burn unit after being in a medically induced coma for six weeks.
Seeking justice for her mother and the pilot, Gupta hopes her lawsuit will push for stronger safety measures to prevent similar tragedies in the future.
