Jenni Rivera Death Lawsuit -- Victims' Families SUE Over Plane Crash

Family members of the people who perished alongside Mexican singer Jenni Rivera in a gruesome plane crash last month have just filed a lawsuit -- blaming the plane's owners for negligence ... and they're also going after Jenni's company for money -- calling the plane "a bucket of bolts."

Relatives of Arturo Rivera (Jenni's publicist), Jacobo "Jacob" Yebale (her makeup artist), Jorge Armando Sanchez Vasquez (her stylist), and Mario Macias Pacheco (her lawyer) have filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Starwood Management, the owner of the Learjet that was carrying Jenni and her entourage when it crashed into the mountains of Northern Mexico, killing everyone on board.

According to the lawsuit, the families claim Starwood negligently allowed the plane to take off that fateful day -- among other things, they say the 78-year-old pilot was not licensed to fly "passengers for hire." They also say the pilot didn't have an instrument flight rule license, something that was necessary at 35,000 feet.

The families are also suing Jenni Rivera's company for the same negligence. They want unspecified damages.

As we reported the DEA has been investigating Starwood Management and its planes for a while now, and even seized two of the company's planes early last year.

Jenni's plane -- a 1969 Learjet 25 -- had reportedly logged 43 years worth of flights and been previously damaged in an accident back in 2005. An exec at Starwood said the plane was perfectly maintained.