The families of the Nevada pilot and passenger who died in 2021 after the plane they were flying in crashed near Rogue Valley International-Medford Airport are suing the company responsible for maintaining the aircraft.

On Wednesday in Jackson County Circuit Court, attorneys for the families of Donald Harbert Sefton, Valerie Jean Serpa and Jet Center Medford, also known as Southern Oregon Skyways, met to discuss the status of the case. Both parties agreed on what pretrial issues needed to be resolved, but did not set trial dates.

The families of Sefton, 69, and Serpa, 67, both of Fallon, Nevada, sued Southern Oregon Skyways in December 2023. That same month, a National Transportation Safety Board report said “spacial disorientation” was a factor in the accident. 

On Dec. 5, 2021, Sefton, a certified pilot, was flying his Piper PA-31-350 Navajo Chieftain home to Fallon with Serpa as a passenger before the aircraft crashed into a nearby car dealership on Biddle Road shortly after takeoff around 4:52 p.m.

The report also said that two weeks before the accident, Sefton and Serpa noticed the plane was leaking a large amount of fuel from the right wing root. They drove back to Fallon while the plane underwent repairs and returned to Medford on Dec. 5, 2021, so Sefton could fly the plane home. 

Despite Jet Center certifying that the plane could safely fly, the families’ civil complaint alleges that the auxiliary fuel hose assembly was not properly torqued, resulting in loss of fuel flow and power to the right engine that likely caused the crash.

The families are seeking $8 million in damages under wrongful death laws.

On Wednesday in court, Matthew Clarke, attorney for the Sefton and Serpa families, told Judge David Orr that the aircraft has since been taken to Georgia for lab inspections, but more work need to be done. 

David Cramer, attorney for Jet Center Medford, told Orr his law firm has observed the inspections and believes they need to be completed before depositions and other matters are addressed. 

Orr and the attorneys did not set future court dates at Wednesday’s hearing.

Cramer said in an email afterward that his client does not comment on ongoing litigation.

Clarke did not immediately respond to a request for comment following the hearing.