Iron 44 Incident: Family of dead firefighter sues helicopter maker, others

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

Iron 44 Incident: Family of dead firefighter sues helicopter maker, others

by Stephen Beaven, The Oregonian
Monday March 02, 2009, 2:15 PM

The mother of a firefighter killed last year in a California helicopter crash has filed a wrongful death suit against two Oregon companies.

Verna Wilson's 30-year-old son Shawn Blazer was killed Aug. 5 when the helicopter he was riding in crashed moments after takeoff as Blazer and others were fighting a fire in the Trinity National Forest in northern California.

The crash killed nine men, including seven contract firefighters with Grayback Forestry of Merlin, Ore.

Wilson's suit, filed Friday in Multnomah County Circuit Court, claims negligence and seeks $8 million in damages. It names Columbia Helicopters, Carson Helicopters and Carson's subsidiary, Carson Helicopter Services.

Columbia and Carson Helicopters have Oregon offices. Others named in the suit include Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. the manufacturer of the helicopter that crashed United Technologies Corp. and General Electric.

The National Transportation Safety Board is still investigating the crash.

"We are not commenting at this time, said Tonya Van Walleghem an attorney for Columbia Helicopters.

Blazer's attorneys Arthur Johnson and Douglas Schaller of Eugene also represent the two men who survived the crash, Michael Brown and Jonathan Frohreich. But neither have filed a suit, yet.

Last month, the families of two firefighters killed in the fiery helicopter crash -- Matthew Hammer, 23, of Grants Pass and Bryan Rich, 29, of Medford -- filed wrongful death, negligence and product liability lawsuits against the same defendants.

The suits seek $10 million for each victim, plus funeral costs.

The Aug. 5 crash is considered the deadliest air tragedy of working firefighters in U.S. history.

-- Stephen Beaven; stephenbeaven@news.oregonian.com

Source: OregonLive.com

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Tuesday, March 3, 2009