A federal jury was told last week it will have to decide if a 1985 plane crash that killed a Blue Springs couple was caused by aircraft flaws or whether the pilot committed suicide because of business problems and his deep religious beliefs.
Kenneth and Nila Asay were killed in the March 1985 crash as they were flying from Independence to Utah in a single-engine Cessna. Their plane plunged more than 6,000 feet into the ground in the sparsely populated Sand Hills of western Nebraska.The suit, filed against Cessna by the couple's four young children and their maternal grandparents, blames the crash on a faulty latch that caused a window to break away and damage the plane's tail controls.
Cessna contends the crash was the result of a suicide dive by Kenneth Asay, 34, who was piloting. The company will argue that Asay had suffered heavy business losses and become alienated from friends and family because he practiced polygamy and believed he was the reincarnation of Joseph Smith Jr., founder of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Both sides said they will call teams of experts to testify about technical issues, and the defense will call friends to testify about Asay's mental state the day of the crash.
Lawyers for both sides agree that Asay thought he was the reincarnation of Smith. The Asays were excommunicated from the LDS Church and moved with their family in February 1985 to Independence, where they joined a small religious community.
After his death, another woman, whom Asay had taken as a second wife, tried in a Utah court to gain custody of the children.
The trial is expected to last about seven weeks.