WATERLOO -- The owner of a looted airplane is asking to retry a lawsuit alleging wrongdoing by the Waterloo Regional Airport, its fixed-base operator and an amateur aviation enthusiast.

Attorney Colin Murphy, who is representing Dwyer Aircraft Sales of Clear Lake, filed a motion for a new trial last week after Black Hawk County jurors found his client shouldered the largest responsibility for the condition of its own twin-engine 1973 Piper Seneca.

The Piper had been at the airport since 2001 awaiting engine repairs, and the defendants said the plane had been practically abandoned.

In 2004 owner Jerry Dwyer noticed the engines, landing gear, autopilot and other parts had been removed, and the plane was left propped up on crates.

He filed a lawsuit in 2007 against the airport board, Livingston Aviation and Cedar Falls resident John Nocero, who allegedly took some of the parts.

In October, a jury determined the damages amounted to $21,000, and Dwyer Aircraft was 40 percent at fault.

Livingston was responsible for 30 percent, Nocero was responsible for 20 percent, and the airport was responsible for 10 percent, according to Nocero's attorney, Gary Jones.

The Piper landed at the Waterloo Airport after having engine problems while in flight.

During the civil trial, Jones had argued the plane had been abandoned and partially disassembled before Nocero got to it.

Nocero had been arrested and pleaded to theft charges in criminal court for allegedly using parts of the Piper to build his own experimental aircraft.

Airport officials said they had been trying to get Dwyer to remove the Piper from their property after it was taken out of the Livingston hangar in 2002.

Contact Jeff Reinitz at (319) 291-1578 or jeff.reinitz@wcfcourier.com.