The family of a man that died in a hot air balloon crash in 2013 in Switzerland has filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles seeking $53.8 million in damages, as reported by the Malibu Times and other media outlets. The damages are for claims of wrongful death, as well as personal injury, as not only did the man, G.A., die in the incident, his wife and two daughters were severely injured.
The suit was filed in Los Angeles Superior Court and names a travel agent, two travel companies, and a Swiss hotel as defendants. According to the suit, it was the negligence on the part of the defendants that led up to the crash in August of 2013.
The only other defendant named in the lawsuit was the pilot of the hot air balloon, C.D. Allegedly, C.D. has a history of alcoholism and had consumed alcohol the night before taking the family up in the balloon. C.D.'s blood alcohol level, between 0.1 and 0.2 percent, was above the Swiss law. He has been charged with manslaughter in the incident.
The suit states that as the hot air balloon veered dangerously close to power lines 165 feet above the ground G.A. "had his wife and daughters lay on the bottom of the balloon's basket and he tried to shield them with his own body to protect them. The members of the family told each other they loved each other and prayed."
The maneuver did little to change the outcome of the crash. G.A. died on impact of an aortic rupture. His wife and daughters were knocked unconscious. Injuries to all three women included a shattered jaw, internal injures, a broken spine, and broken legs. While they have each endured surgeries, they are still in recovery – and expect to be for the remainder of their lives.
The family's lawyer claims that medical bills so far are $1 million. The lawyer commented, "None of them will ever get back to where they were before this accident." In regards to the defendants, the family's lawyer said, "(The hotel) advertises it as a top-of-the-line safe trip, you can count on them to supply a competent pilot and take you on a once in a lifetime experience, but that's not what happened. They put the (A. family) into the balloon, they had a pilot who was not competent..."
The suit claims that while the A. family knew nothing of C.D.'s history with alcoholism, the hotel did. C.D. had allegedly been fired from a job for being caught drinking at a "pub during working hours." The person that hired C.D. into his new position at Grand Hotel was his own brother-in-law.
While hotel employees assured the family that C.D. was versed in the route, it grew apparent during the flight that he was not. Making constant shifts in the altitude began to frighten the family and they asked him to bring them down earlier than planned. At one point, C.D.'s nephew radioed him to tell him that he was coming down too low. One of G.A.'s daughters saw the power lines ahead before C.D. did. She called out to C.D. to warn him, however he "was looking in the opposite direction." The balloon careened into the lines and then came crashing down.