$100 Million Settlement Awarded to Parents of Man Who Died in Fiery Helicopter Crash
Photo Credit - Teddy Fujimoto AP
General Aviation (GA) aircraft are highly accident prone. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) data reveals that on average, there are 3-4 GA aviation accidents every single day in the U.S. As shown in the NTSB U.S. Civil Aviation Dashboard: 2008-2022, during this 14 year timeframe, there were 19,532 accidents including 6,048 fatalities and 3,542 serious injuries - an average of 1,395 accidents and 432 fatalities every year. To put this in perspective, nearly 3,000 people died in the 9/11 attacks on U.S. soil. Twice that many have perished in GA accidents over the past 14 years.
According to a 1/10/2024 Time article by Anna Gordon, Parents of Man Who Died After Grand Canyon Helicopter Crash to Receive $100m Settlement, five people perished and two were seriously injured during a tourist helicopter flight over the Grand Canyon. The legal decision required the manufacturer of the aircraft, Airbus Helicopters, and the helicopter tour company Papillon Airways Inc., to pay $75M and $24.6M respectively.
The opening paragraphs of the report appear below.
A routine tourist helicopter ride across the Grand Canyon went tragically wrong in February 2018. Airbus EC130 B4 spun out of control before crashing and bursting into flames. The crash was thought to be caused by a "violent gust of wind." Five individuals were killed, all British, as a result of the accident.
A Nevada court awarded a $100 million dollar payout to the parents of one of the victims, Jonathan Udall, 31. Jonathan was on vacation in Las Vegas with his newlywed wife, Ellie, and friends. The group were celebrating one member's 30th birthday and the Udall's marriage.
To view the full report click here.
A BBC 1/15/2021 report provides additional details on the two survivors. One, a passenger, "suffered life changing injuries." The pilot had both of his legs amputated.
The BBC further stated,
The "most significant factor" affecting survival of those on board the helicopter was the post-crash fire, according to the findings.
The aircraft was "not equipped, nor was it required to be equipped, with a crash-resistant fuel system".
After the crash, the helicopter company announced that it would fit crash-resistant tanks to its fleet.
The NTSB Final report identified smoke inhalation and burns from the post impact fire as the primary cause of the deaths of a number of the passengers.
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