The widow of a Manhattan investment exec who died in a 2011 plane crash is suing his late business partner for piloting the single-engine turboprop Socata into an ice storm.
Rakesh Chawla, 36, was a managing director at Greenhill & Co. when he took the fatal flight almost two years ago in December.
He left behind his wife Cathleen Chawla and three young daughters.
The pilot, Greenhill colleague Jeffrey Buckalew, was transporting his own wife, their two children, the family dog and Chawla to an Atlanta conference before the holidays.
All the passengers died when the plane broke apart in mid-air shortly after leaving Teterboro airport in NJ.
The six-seater craft landed in smoldering pieces along Rt. 287 in Morris Township.
The stricken widow blames Buckalew for operating the aircraft without a more experienced co-pilot, taking off before obtaining a weather briefing and failing to use de-icing systems.
“It’s a devastating loss to her and her three children,” the widow’s attorney, Daniel O. Rose, told the Post.
She wants unspecified damages from Buckalew’s estate.
The estate’s executor, Edward Buckalew of Virginia, did not immediately return calls for comment.