Wife of New Jersey Musician Killed in Airline Crash Sues

June 22, 2009

The family of a jazz guitarist from New Jersey who was killed in the crash of a commuter plane near Buffalo, N.Y., in February has sued Continental Airlines and the flight’s operator.

The lawsuit was filed Monday in federal 3 ?:rt in Newark by Jeanie Bryson, the wife of Coleman Mellett (muh-LETT’).

Mellett was one of 50 people killed when Continental Connection Flight 3407 crashed into a house in Clarence, N.Y., on Feb. 12.

Mellett, a guitarist in trumpeter Chuck Mangione’s band, was on his way to play a concert in Buffalo.

The lawsuit claims negligence and “reckless, wanton and willful misconduct” on the part of Continental and Colgan Air. The suit also names Colgan’s parent company, Pinnacle Airlines.

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