LOS ANGELES (AP) — Relatives of four passengers killedlast month with Jenni Rivera in a plane
crash in Mexico filed a lawsuitagainst Rivera’s company Thursday alleging the singer was negligent
whenshe hired a faulty Learjet 25.The civil lawsuit filed in a LosAngeles court seeks unspecified
financial compensation from Jenni RiveraEnterprises. It claims Rivera picked the aircraft owned by
LasVegas-based Starwood Management and should have known the state of theplane and the pilots’
status."There are a lot of doubts about whyJenni Rivera chose that aerial clunker," said
attorney Vance Owen, ofKiel & Larson, who represents the plaintiffs.Rivera’spublicist, Arturo
Rivera, her makeup artist, Jacob Yebale, her stylist,Jorge Sanchez, her lawyer, Mario Macias, and the
two pilots were amongthe seven people killed when the aircraft crashed Dec. 9 in
northernMexico.Authorities have not determined what caused the plane to plunge, killing all
onboard.JenniRivera Enterprises collects royalties and copyright payments forRivera, 43, and it manages
the singer’s other businesses and assets.The Encino-based company was taken over by Rivera’s sister,
Rosy Rivera, according to their brother, Pedro Rivera.Pedro Rivera didn’t return a message requesting
comment Thursday.Thelawsuit also accuses three other companies that own or once owned theLearjet 25 of
negligence, alleging they knew or should have known theplane was not safe to fly and it was "likely
to injure or kill anyperson or persons who used it." It also alleges negligence by 100unidentified
people who took part in the plane’s design, testing, sale,maintenance, repairs and checks.The companies
are StarwoodManagement, which owned the aircraft, Rodartz Financial Group Inc.,which owns Starwood, and
McOco Inc., which owned the plane for twodecades before Starwood bought it.The lawsuit also alleges
thethree companies and the unidentified people knew that the pilot andco-pilot did not have the
necessary training and were not apt to safelyfly the plane.According to the National Transportation
SafetyBoard, the same plane was substantially damaged in a 2005 landing mishapat Amarillo International
Airport in Texas. It hit a runway distancemarker after losing directional control. There were four
aboard but noinjuries. It was registered to a company in Houston, Texas, as the time.Starwoodhas been
the subject of a lawsuit and investigations, though none sofar have centered on the plane that carried
Rivera. Another of itsplanes was seized in September by the U.S. Drug EnforcementAdministration in
McAllen, Texas.Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.