Opening arguments began Tuesday in the first of five lawsuits to go to trial in the wake of an accident at the Thomson-McDuffie County Airport where five people died after an executive jet clipped a utility poll near the end of the runway.

The crash killed vascular surgeon Steven Roth, nurse anesthetist Lisa Volpitto, ultrasound technicians Heidi McCorkle and Tiffany Porter, and Kim Davidson, a secretary. All worked for The Vein Guys, a vascular practice with offices in Atlanta, Augusta and Nashville. The crash occurred as they returned from Nashville. The pilot and co-pilot of the Hawker Beechcraft jet were the only survivors.