A new lawsuit has been filed against a Las Vegas tour company due to a sightseeing helicopter crash that resulted in the death of four tourists, as reported by the Associated Press for the Washington Post and other news media.
The latest suit has been filed in Clark County District Court in Las Vegas. Damages sought are yet to be specified. The suit names Sundance Helicopters Inc. as the responsible party.
The fatal crash occurred in an isolated ravine near Lake Mead on December 7.
Of the five killed, this lawsuit is in regards to D.C. and T.C., a vacationing couple that booked the helicopter tour as part of their 25th wedding anniversary commemoration. The suit has been filed on behalf of the couple’s four children.
D.C. and T.C. were both 49 years old at the time of their deaths.
Kansas City-based attorney, Gary Robb, is representing the C. family. Robb said, “It’s very sad” what the loss of the couple has done to the remaining family members.
Larry Pietropaulo, the CEO for Sundance Helicopters Inc. commented, “Sundance will continue to work openly with all parties involved in the investigation” and also offered the family their condolences. Pietropaulo did not respond to any of the allegations made in the suit.
Robb is also representing the family of another married other couple that died in the crash. That couple, L.B., 28, and A.B., 26, had traveled from their home in India to have their honeymoon in Las Vegas. That wrongful death suit is pending.
Robb is seeking separate trials for the couples, but plans on using the evidence collected for both.
There were five deaths in total reported in the crash – the pilot, L.N., 31, also perished. L.N., like L.B. and A.B., was a newlywed having just been married last June.
Radar tracking evidence shared by the National Transportation Safety Board showed an “erratic and abnormal” flight pattern, per Robb, just before the Aerospatiale AS350-B2 six-seater spun out of control and crashed.
The NTSB should release a report, and its safety recommendation, in about a year. In the meantime Robb has suggested that the cause for the crash was either pilot error or mechanical failure.
NTSB officials said the helicopter was built in 1989 and had routine maintenance the day before it crashed. The repairs included installing a replacement engine and servo-actuators (mechanical devices) in the tail area and main rotor.
Prior to its last flight, the helicopter held one test flight and two other passenger tours.
Authorities with the NTSB said evidence was found indicating that the engine did produce power before the crash, L.N. did not make any emergency call before or during the helicopter’s descent and a search and rescue team found no survivors in the rough terrain.
Andrew Munoz, National Park Service Spokesman for the Lake Mead National Recreation Area, said that the area is currently closed to all visitors. The crash site is being cleaned of all fuel and toxic materials and wreckage is in the process of being removed so that the landscape can be restored.
Contact a personal injury lawyer to file a wrongful death lawsuit. Monetary compensation is often awarded for such a loss.