Family members involved in a wrongful death lawsuit resulting from the 2024 fatal jet crash on I-75 in Naples are seeking to move their case to another judge who is handling a similar case from the same crash.
Both suits were filed in 2025.
Edward Murphy and David Hoffman were the pilots of a jet that lost power on approach to Naples Airport February 9, 2024. They died in the resultant crash when they tried landing the powerless craft on I-75. Three others on board, two passengers and a flight attendant, survived.
A relative of pilot Murphy filed the transfer motion May 1 in the 11th Judicial Circuit Court in Miami-Dade County. This suit was filed in October, 2025.
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The motion says a similar wrongful death suit, filed in May 2025 by a relative of pilot Hoffman, arises from the same crash. It involves substantially identical circumstances of liability, defect allegations, evidence, and more.
The Murphy case further says that allowing both suits to proceed n separate court divisions would create substantial duplication of judicial labor, expense and discovery burdens. The risk of inconsistent rulings was also raised.
A hearing on the motion is scheduled for May 20.
Among those named in both wrongful death suits are Bombardier Aerospace, General Electric and GE Aerospace.
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