Aaliyah's Parents Sue Virgin Records

By Stephen M. Silverman

Tuesday May 14, 2002 10:00 AM EDT

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Diane and Michael Haughton, parents of the late R&B singer and actress Aaliyah, filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court Monday against Virgin Records and the operators of the flight on which their daughter died, claiming both were negligent, reports Reuters. The Haughtons are blaming the parties for not preventing the crash in the Bahamas that killed Aaliyah, then 22, and eight members of her entourage last Aug. 25, according to legal papers. The group was in the Caribbean to shoot a music video. The suit alleges that the twin-engine Cessna 402-B (which crashed shortly after takeoff) was the wrong type of aircraft for the charter flight to Florida and that its pilot was not qualified to fly it. Investigators said the aircraft was at least 700 pounds overweight, according to the Associated Press. The Haughtons are seeking unspecified damages. Over the weekend, says Reuters, the Bahamian government was completing its investigation of the tragedy and was planning to blame error and inexperience by the pilot as well as excess weight as the main contributing factors to the crash. Representatives of Virgin Records and Blackhawk International Airways, the charter operator, could not be immediately reached for comment. The families of two other crash victims filed similar lawsuits on Monday, reports AP.