Google co-founder Sergey Brin is facing a wrongful-death suit in California from the widow of the pilot who was flying one of the billionaire’s planes from Santa Rosa to his private island in Fiji last year when it crashed into the Pacific Ocean.

The suit, filed in state court in Santa Clara County, alleges Brin’s US$8mil twin-engine seaplane was improperly outfitted with an auxiliary fuel tank that malfunctioned several hours into the May 20 flight, forcing an emergency return to California. It crashed off the coast of Half Moon Bay, killing pilot Lance Maclean and his co-pilot Dean Rushfeldt.