Travis Barker sues plane company

FORMER Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker has filed a lawsuit that blames the pilots and defective equipment for the plane crash that severely injured the rocker and DJ AM and killed four others.

Barker is suing Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co, which owned the Learjet which crashed, and an aeroplane maintenance company, for $25,000
(£17,000) in damages for pain and suffering, disfigurement, loss of earnings plus medical and legal expenses.

The suit, filed on Friday, claims the pilots "negligently decided to abort" the takeoff when the Learjet's tires failed at an airport in Columbia, S.C.

The L.A. Superior Court lawsuit, says: "The pilots were either poorly trained and/or failed to follow their training.

"The pilots' decision was a breach of their duty owed to the passengers onboard and was a substantial factor in causing the crash and resultant injuries and deaths."

Thelma Martin Still, the mother of Barker's bodyguard Charles Monroe Still Jr, who was killed in the crash, has joined the drummer in the lawsuit and is suing for damages including grief and sorrow and funeral expenses.

Pilot Sarah Lemmon, 31, and co-pilot James Bland, 52, were killed in the crash in September, along with Barker's assistant Chris Baker, 29, and Still, 25.

The lawsuit also alleges that one or more of the tires failed, "leaving tire debris and portions of airplane components along the 8,600-foot runaway" and that the plane's landing gear, tires, wheels, brakes, reverse thrust system, and squat switches "were not airworthy."