A New Hampshire pilot faces manslaughter charges for a crash in January 2011 that killed his 35-year-old daughter. Steven Fay, 57, of Hillsborough, N.H., will be arraigned Thursday on one count of involuntary manslaughter in connection with the crash of a Cessna 310F twin, which killed Jessica Malin. Fay is accused of “unintentionally and unlawfully” causing Malin’s death by means of “wanton or reckless conduct.” According to the NTSB’s factual report, Fay held a private pilot certificate for ASEL only, with no multiengine rating, although he had logged about 50 hours of multi instruction time. The airplane hit trees on final approach as the pilot was attempting a visual touch-and-go landing, about 90 minutes after sunset, at a small airport in Orange, Mass.
The grand jury’s indictment alleges that Fay’s conduct “created a high degree of likelihood that substantial harm would result to another, in that he did operate a Cessna fixed-wing multi-engine aircraft without sufficient training, experience, expertise, licensure, qualifications and/or supervision, and in violation of various rules and regulations of the Federal Aviation Administration.” According to Dist. Atty. Steven Gagne, “Mr. Fay was neither licensed nor qualified to fly that twin-engine plane without an instructor on board, and he was repeatedly warned as such, yet he nevertheless chose to fly the plane at night with a passenger on board without his instructor’s knowledge or approval.” The FAA revoked Fay’s pilot certificate last March.
