----------------------------------------------Lawsuits against helicopter maker, others, in deadly firefighter crash grow to five
by Stuart Tomlinson, The Oregonian Monday March 16, 2009, 5:31 PM
Photo of the Carson helicopter that was carrying 13 people away from the Buckhorn site in Trinity County when it crashed and burst into flames August 5, 2008.Photo credit:
The family of a firefighter killed in a fiery helicopter crash last summer today filed a wrongful death, negligence and product liability lawsuit against an Oregon-based helicopter company and three other companies.
The suit seeks $12.5 million for the estate 19-year-old Edrik Gomez.
Gomez died a month before his junior year at Southern Oregon University in Ashland, where he had a double major in political science and communication.
Edrik Gomez, 19.The Aug. 5 crash is considered the deadliest air tragedy of working firefighters in U.S. history, killing nine men, including seven contract firefighters with Grayback Forestry of Merlin.
In addition to Carson Helicopters Inc. of Grants Pass, the suit names the maker of the S-61 helicopter, Sikorsky Aircraft Corp., and its parent company, United Technologies Corp.; the maker of the engine, General Electric; and a maintenance firm, Columbia Helicopters of Aurora.
The suit was filed in Multnomah County Circuit Court, and joins a growing list of lawsuits filed by the victim's families, including the estates of Matthew Hammer, 23, of Grants Pass and Bryan Rich, 29, of Medford; Scott Charlson, a 25-year-old Southern Oregon University student from Phoenix, Oregon; and 30-year-old Shawn Blazer of Medford.
The helicopter went down moments after lifting off a hillside in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest. A preliminary report by the National Transportation Safety Board determined the helicopter lost power to its main rotor as it took off.
In an interview a month after the crash, one of four survivors, Michael Brown, 20, of Rogue River, said that the helicopter felt sluggish as it lifted off. Then, he heard a sickening thump and watched as the main rotor smashed into tree limbs.
Sikorsky S-61s have gone down four other times in the past 15 years under similar circumstances, leading some safety officials in the United States and Canada to raise questions about a part in their clutch system called the freewheel unit.
Sikorsky -- and defendants that included either the engine maker or transmission maker -- have settled out of court at least five lawsuits related to such crashes, but have never admitted fault.
The NTSB expects a final report on the crash to be issued some time around Thanksgiving, said lead investigator Jim Struhsaker.
Source: www.oregonlive.com - Link
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDelete