Victims' relatives sue Rivera's company over crash

(AP) Victims’ relatives sue Rivera’s company over crash
By E.J. TAMARA
Associated Press
LOS ANGELES
Relatives of four people killed with Jenni Rivera in a plane crash last month are suing Rivera’s company, alleging the singer was negligent when she hired a faulty Learjet.

The civil lawsuit filed Thursday in Los Angeles seeks unspecified damages from Jenni Rivera Enterprises. It claims Rivera picked the aircraft owned by Las Vegas-based Starwood Management and should have known the state of the plane and the pilots’ status.

Rivera’s publicist, makeup artist, stylist and lawyer, along with the two pilots, were among the seven people killed when the aircraft crashed Dec. 9 in northern Mexico.

Authorities haven’t determined what caused the crash, but the lawsuit says Rivera’s company and three other companies that own or once owned the Learjet 25 should have known the plane was not safe to fly.

It also says the companies knew that the pilots did not have the necessary training to safely fly the plane.