A Cook County judge has approved a $15 million settlement in a wrongful-death lawsuit filed by the family of a restaurant executive killed in a private plane crash in 2006 near Palwaukee Airport.

Circuit Court Judge John A. Ward on Thursday approved the settlement to the family of Michael Waugh, a resident of Algonquin who was general manager of Joe's Seafood, Prime Steak and Stone Crab Restaurant.

Waugh was returning from Olathe, Kan., on Jan. 30, 2006, when the Cessna 421B piloted by Morgan Stanley senior financial adviser Mark Turek, of Winnetka, crashed just before landing at the Wheeling airport, now known as Chicagoland Executive Airport. Turek, Waugh, and two other passengers, Chicago resident Scott Garland and Lake Zurich resident Ken Knudson, were killed.

The lawsuit against Turek's estate and Morgan Stanley alleged that the financial giant used aircraft flown by nonprofessional pilots.