HOLLYWOOD, Fla. – Students at Atlantis Flight Academy in Hollywood have been left in limbo after their flight school was suddenly shut down.
The academy’s owner, Alfredo Diaz; his wife, Ksenia Shanina, and their 3-year-old son were all killed in a plane crash in Virginia back in March.
The flight school immediately shut down and students who racked hundreds of flight hours and shelled out tens of thousands of dollars for the training have been told their time and money is gone for good.
They’ve been fighting for months to get it back.
Right after the owner of the school was killed, creditors went to court and filed big claims against the company.
Some claims topped a half million dollars each.
A probate attorney for the estate of the owners calls the situation extremely tragic, and in a statement to Local 10 News, said:
“…Since the flight school owners are all dead, the estate has to go through the legal process, and creditors are paid in a certain order. In this case, there are bank loans that are secured creditors and unfortunately, they are in a priority position over the students. It’s an unfortunate situation, but the law must be adhered to.”
The court battles could go on for several years.