Families of 3 Killed in Copter Crash Push to Sue

The widows of three firefighters killed in a 1998 helicopter crash in Griffith Park have asked a state appellate court to reinstate their wrongful-death claims against the aircraft’s manufacturer, their attorney said Thursday.

The women and their children will challenge the constitutionality of a federal law that prohibits them from suing Bell Helicopter Textron Inc. because the Los Angeles Fire Department helicopter that crashed was 22 years old, Los Angeles attorney Robert E. Guilford said.

The law, the General Aviation Revitalization Act of 1994, bars the survivors from recovering monetary damages from Bell Helicopter when the aircraft has been in use for 18 years or more.

There are a few exceptions to the law, including one for injured people being transported for medical attention when they cannot choose the vehicle they will use.

Therefore, the parents of an 11-year-old girl also killed in the crash can go forward with their lawsuit against the manufacturer, Guilford said, adding that he believes the law thereby makes “an irrational distinction.”

He and attorneys representing two other plaintiffs in the case also will argue that their clients should be permitted to sue Bell Helicopter under other exceptions to the federal aviation law, including fraud. They allege Bell Helicopter concealed safety information from the Federal Aviation Administration.

“The question is: Should Bell have disclosed the problems they had with the tail rotor [in military helicopters] to the FAA when they knew the same part was used in civilian helicopters?” asked Woodland Hills attorney Richard P. Louis, who represents pilot Steven L. Robinson in the suit. Robinson survived the crash.

Last month, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Rodney E. Nelson ruled in favor of Bell Helicopter, which had sought to dismiss claims by the widows and two survivors. Nelson said the manufacturer is not required to alert the FAA to problems in military aircraft.

The plaintiffs have filed notices of appeal with the 2nd District Court of Appeal in Los Angeles, their attorneys said Thursday.

Attorney Peter P. Brotzen, who represents Bell Helicopter, was not available for comment Thursday.

Paramedics Michael A. Butler and Eric F. Reiner, both 33, and crew member Michael D. McComb, 48, were killed in March 1998, while rushing a critically injured 11-year-old car crash victim from Sun Valley to Childrens Hospital in Los Angeles, about 10 miles away. The child, Norma Vides of Sun Valley, also died in the helicopter crash.

Robinson and crew member Dennis Silgen were seriously injured. Silgen took disability retirement; Robinson is back at work as a pilot for the Fire Department, their attorneys said.

None of the firefighters or their survivors can sue the city or Fire Department because they were on duty at the time of the accident, their attorneys said. Their losses were covered by workers’ compensation and other government provisions.

The accident was caused when a tail rotor separated from the aircraft in flight “due to a fatigue fracture in the yoke” that secured the rotor blade, according to a National Transportation Safety Board report released last year.