News4 uncovers details about pilot in Percy Priest plane crash

what news 4 investigates has uncovered tonight raises questions about the qualifications of the pilot at the helm of a deadly plane crash that pilot joe lara his wife and five other members of remnant church died when the plane crashed into percy priest lake on may 29th we've obtained documents audio and video about lara introduced in court before the crash our chief investigative reporter jeremy finley obtained all this and jeremy why was this all introduced in court well marius it was part of a contentious child support case in which the mother of laura's young daughter tried to prevent him from flying their daughter before the crash get some help please get some help you're sick sick girl that's joe laura get some help get some help recorded by his ex-girlfriend natasha pavlovich one of several contentious videos introduced in their battle over child support for their daughter a battle that revealed questions about whether laura was qualified to be piloting a plane the day of the deadly crash and it's all about this a medical certificate it determines if a pilot is healthy enough to fly once it's granted it's good for two years for someone of lara's age the first red flag introduced in court if laura's was active the faa's database at the time of the crash showed it wasn't but his wife's church remnant fellowship gave news 4 investigates what they said was an active second class medical certificate now listen to what laura testified in court in the month before the crash about that certificate my class my second class medical expired so wait a minute lara testified it expired but the church document shows it was still in effect and there's more in 2015 in sworn testimony lara is asked about any medical condition for which his california medical marijuana card was issued his response insomnia now look at the faa's rules medical conditions that chronically interfere with sleep are disqualifying regardless of whether a sleep aid is used or not and pilots should not be issued medical certificates for anyone using medicinal marijuana lara responded in court the last time he smoked marijuana was 2015. but in pavlovich's emails to try and prevent him from flying their daughter citing legitimate concerns for her safety she cites her daughter finding pipes in her father's bedroom in 2019 and her father smelling like weed the same year all right according to the ntsb laura did have an active second class medical certificate but did the faa and the ntsb know about what was revealed in court all the ntsb will say is that lara's health is part of their investigation we also reached out to the church and lara's attorney requesting comment only the attorney responded saying he could not comment because this is a confidential juvenile court proceeding and the church did not answer our question about that certificate marius jeremy it is jaw-dropping what you just found out but it's also important to note that we don't know what caused the crash well that's right it's important to say that we don't know the ntsb has not finished their investigation and we don't know if laura's health has anything to do with it but regardless there are questions about that certificate tracy

Channel: WSMV 4 Nashville

Views: 92,393

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Id: Xm738XhNzOU

Length: 3min 32sec (212 seconds)

Published: Sat Jul 03 2021