The Scottsdale City Council voted to ramp up its legal fight against lawsuits over a deadly plane crash tied to Mötley Crüe singer Vince Neil at Scottsdale Airport. While in each suit the parties involved blame one another for what went wrong, they all also blame the city.
Across four lawsuits, the parties agree that a Learjet owned by Chromed in Hollywood, Inc., a company owned by Neil, experienced a landing gear failure on Feb. 10, 2025. It veered off the runway at Scottsdale Airport and crashed into a parked Gulfstream jet.
The crash killed the Learjet’s pilot, Joie Vitosky, and seriously injured a second pilot and two passengers. One of those passengers was Vince Neil’s girlfriend, Rain Hannah Andreani, along with her friend Ashley Rae Rosile, who filed one of the lawsuits. A pilot inside the Gulfstream also was badly hurt. Neil was not on the plane.
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The owner of the Gulfstream jet has filed a claim. The company that insured it has filed a claim. Neil's company that owns the Learjet has filed its own claim. And Rosile, who was injured, also has sued.
Central to the lawsuits filed by Rosile, Neil's company, and the Gulfstream's owner and operator is the allegation that the Gulfstream jet was parked too close to active runway space and that multiple parties failed to detect or correct the hazard, including the city.
A lawsuit filed by the Gulfstream’s insurer places blame on Neil's company, alleging mechanical failure, improper maintenance or pilot error contributed to the crash.
Each of the lawsuits also places some level of blame on Scottsdale, which owns and operates the airport.
In this 2025 file photo from the scene of a deadly crash between a Learjet 35A owned by Mötley Crüe frontman Vince Neil and a parked Gulfstream 200 jet, workers disassemble the plane for transport from the Scottsdale Airport.
In at least one case the city has filed a response, arguing that aviation safety is primarily the responsibility of pilots and federal air traffic controllers, not municipal airport operators.
While Scottsdale has not filed any suits or countersuits, the City Council on May 5 unanimously approved a resolution allowing the city to go beyond defending itself in the cases and pursue claims against other parties involved.
City officials said no additional costs are expected as a result of the vote.
None of the lawsuits list a total dollar amount for damages, though one filed by the Gulfstream’s insurer seeks the cost for the destroyed aircraft, which they valued at $5.5. million. The remaining cases seek damages to be determined at trial.
Following a federal investigation, the National Transportation Safety Board released a report finding possible issues with the Learjet’s landing gear, including evidence that it was out of position before touchdown and may have been improperly installed months earlier.
The board investigates the causes of crashes, including pilot errors, mechanical issues and conditions at the airport, but does not determine legal fault or liability. The board's report did not address whether the Gulfstream was parked in a restricted area or was in violation of safety rules.
