Millions Awarded to Crash Victims

Two helicopters--both crews using night-vision goggles--participated in the nighttime maneuvers on Jan. 22, 2004 – a “low bird” that flew close to the ground and a “high bird” that flew above looking for possible obstructions. As the helicopters were leaving Talega Canyon, the UH-1N helicopter known as a Huey struck a 135-foot utility tower. The Cobra was intact. All the victims were Iraq veterans attached to the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit.

Fast forward to 2008. (Cases like these take years to go to trial.)

Family members of Capt. Adam E. Miller, 29; 1st Lt. Michael S. Lawlor, 26; Staff Sgt. Lori A. Privette, 27; and Cpl. Joshua D. Harris, 21, asked for unspecified damages in the wrongful-death lawsuit. In a jury decision, over $15 million was awarded on Wednesday to the families of four Marines killed.

San Diego Gas & Electric, which owned the tower was determined to be negligent and "acted with malice" by not installing safety devices to prevent accidents. After a three week trial and deliberating one day, the jury determined that the parents of all four Marines should receive $2.125 million. Lawlor's wife was entitled to $4.5 million for the loss and $2.2 million in lost earnings.

SDG&E bore 56 percent of the responsibility for the collision because they knew about the hazard and failed to follow safety recommendations. Pilots and other parties shared the rest of the blame. After the trial's punitive damages phase, the jury awarded $10.1 million to the families of each Marine who died in the crash.

Since the accident, SDG&E has installed lights.

Devon Helicopter Crash kills none

What: Enstrom 280 helicopter flying from Plymouth to Bedford UK
Where: Haytor on Dartmoor
When: 1225 BST
Who: 78-year-old man, from Bedfordshire was not injured in the crash, but was injured on exiting to check damage.
Why: Weather conditions and low cloud were considered to contribute to the crash. Air Accidents Investigation Branch will be leading inquiries into the incident. Please note that if an aircraft ends up "ended up on its side, leaking fuel," it is most likely to be considered a crash, even if the descent was "forced."

Helicopter Crash near Arkansas border; Two Killed.

What: new Robinson R-44. Helicopter Crash
Where: Missouri, Taney County near the Arkansas state line in a remote, wooded area near the Long Creek arm of the lake where the Arkansas, Stone County and Taney County borders meet. Searchers had great difficulty finding the crash site and were assisted by the bird's eye view from a helicopter.
When: Friday 4:20 p.m.
Who: 26-year-old Pilot Adam Long of Fredericktown Mo, and passenger 24-year-old Wayne Holtmeier of St. Louis
Why: A man fishing on Table Rock Lake witnessed heard a change in the engine sound and saw the helicopter go down. Currently under investigation by the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board, the investigation reports significant post collision fire.

Helicopter Crash at Pennsylvania Charity Event

What: The event was a "charity golf ball drop" at an Eastern Pennsylvania Golf Course about 80 miles west of Philadelphia.
Where: Schuylkill County, Mountain Valley Golf Course in Ryan Township on Brockton Mountain Drive near Locust Lake State Park
When: 7:00 Friday
Who: Pilot and co-pilot were injured.
Why: NTSB will be investigating

note: The injured were flown to Reading Hospital and Medical Center and Geisinger Medical Center, Danville, Montour County.

Helicopter Crash in northern British Columbia

What: Single-engine Bell Long Ranger, operated by Quantum Helicopters of Terrace flying drilling equipment to a mineral exploration site northeast of Terrace
Where: 40 kilometres northeast of Terrace , northern British Columbia
When: Wednesday
Who: Pilot 53-year-old update-Mike Haworth had serious injuries-was taken to the hospital where he died.
Why: Investigation has begun on the cause of the crash

California Helicopter Crash-updated

Tuesday's helicopter is one of the deadliest incidents in the U.S. for firefighters in the past 30 years.

What: 30-year-old Sikorsky S-61N helicopter built in Connecticut and upgraded three years ago--chartered by the US Forest Service fighting a fire in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest. The helicopter was operated by Carson Helicopters, which has offices in Grants Pass, Oregon. The crash occurred on taking the third group of firefighters from the front lines to camp. “They went forward a slight bit. Then the aircraft rapidly descended and hit the hillside.”
Where: around 55km northwest of Redding in northern California. Shasta-Trinity National Forest
When: 7:45 pm (12.30am AEST).
Who: 13 people - 11 contracted firefighters with Greyback Forestry and two pilots; four suffered serious injuries; nine are unaccounted for and presumed to be fatally injured. The pilot is at the University of California Davis Regional Burn Centre and 4 others are at area hospitals in serious condition. The nine missing have been confirmed dead.
Why: Apparently the aircraft came down and impacted the terrain and then rolled down the mountain. The accident is under Investigation. NTSB Senior Air Safety Investigator Jim Struhsaker has been designated as Investigator-in-Charge. NTSB Board Member Kitty Higgins will serve as principal spokesman during the on-scene investigation. The Safety Board?s team includes two representatives from the Office of Transportation Disaster Assistance. Bridget Serchak will accompany the team as press officer. A search is on for the flight data recorder.

Update
30 firefighters witnessing the crash and waiting for transport rushed to the crash; two survivors emerged in flames, and one without burns pulled the fourth survivor from the wreckage.

Fatalities
Firefighters who died in the crash were identified by Grayback as Shawn Blazer, 30; Scott Charleson, 25; Matthew Hammer, 23; Edrik Gomez, 19; Bryan Rich, 29; and David Steele, 19. The seventh victim's family notification is pending.The pilot who was killed was Roark Schwanenberg. U.S. Forest Service flight inspector was not identified.

Survivors Michael Brown, Jonathan Frohreich, and pilot Bill Coultas, were treated at the UC Davis hospital. Brown suffered a broken face bones, a broken leg, a bruised liver and leg burns. Coultas is critical but stable condition after surgery for burns covering about 1/3 of his body. Brown and Frohreich were upgraded to good condition and moved from the intensive care unit. Richard Schroeder suffered serious injuries to his neck, shoulder and back but no burns, and was upgraded from serious to fair condition at Mercy Medical Center.

In April, the FAA issued an "airworthiness directive" regarding Sikorsky S-helicopters regarding fatigue failures in the main rotor shaft; and the FAA outlined actions to "prevent structural failure, loss of power to the main rotor, and subsequent loss of control of the helicopter." Carson filed in May that had been six months since the company had ordered parts from Sikorsky which were expected to arrive this month.

Vancouver Helicopter Crash Kills 4 in Wilderness

What: Hughes MD 500 aircraft belonging to Prism Helicopters of Pitt Meadows flying out of a camp at Alice Arm
Where: at the top of a fiord bordered by steep mountains, in the Kitsault River.
When: 7 am
Who: 4 fatalities including the pilot, two drillers and a logistics employee from Coast Mountain Geological Ltd.
Why: Under investigation

Update
During the dangerous search and rescue, the rescue team parachuted to the crash site, the mangled aircraft upside down in the Kitsault River. The fatalities were mining workers at Homestake Ridge.

In Vancouver and Alaska, Prism operates a fleet of 26 helicopters from the small, teardrop-shaped MD500 to larger transport and cargo choppers. Bravo has been engaged in extensive exploration drilling in the area.

Helicopter Goes Down in Wheat Field

What: Crop-spraying helicopter
Where: Unidentified wheat field near Buffalo
When: 8/5/2008, 11 a.m.
Who: pilot suffered a small cut
Why: The helicopter was close to the ground when it lost power. The skids got caught on the top of the wheat. While crash landing, the helicopter flipped onto its side but fortunately, the chemicals remained intact and did not leak.

Update on Bolivian Helicopter crash

Bolivian President Evo Morales is suspicious about the helicopter crash that killed five people, because the accident happened right after he had disembarked. After he used the helicopter, it crashed adn killed five people, so he is suggesting that the incident was "probably not accidental". The helicopter was on loan to Morales by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez,

Sunday, Morales used the Super Puma and was scheduled to use it again on Monday from La Paz to but the helicopter crashed one hour after Morales got off on Sunday.

Four Venezuelan military personnel and one Bolivian major aboard were all killed in the crash. Morales linked the crash with two others involving Bolivian Air Force aircraft this week that are still under investigation. This is not the first time that Morales has said that a conspiracy against the government was involved.

Three Die In Utah Crash

What: Hughes 500D helicopter took off from the Carbon County Airport, heading toward Salt Lake on their way home from a fishing trip.
Where: a half-mile northwest of the airport.
When: 3:42 p.m. Saturday July 19
Who: Pilot James Innes, the former owner of Haldon Station in South Canterbury and his son, Andrew formerly of Australia; and the American George McDaniel from Idaho Falls.
Why: Cause under investigation--NTSB says a preliminary report will be released in five to six days. There could have been too much weight for the windy conditions. (When they stopped to refuel, Mr Innes took some of the heavy supplies from a second helicopter.)

The Innes family history: Mr Innes lost another son Dan in a chopper crash in Mexico in 1998 and his brother David in an air crash at Gore. Mr Innes was a pioneer in shooting and capture of feral deer from a helicopter in New Zealand in the 1980s. James Innes flew for Pathfinder Helicopter, caught all the wolves for Yellowstone (National Park); transplanted them from Alaska down to Yellowstone.

Reverend Sun Myung Moon Crashes

What: S-92 helicopter was flying to Cheongshim Hospital from southern Seoul
Where: crashed into a mountain in South Korea
When:
Who: The Reverend Sun Myung Moon, 88, founder of the Unification Church, and 15 others
Why: Cause is nder Investigation. The helicopter made an emergency landing due to bad visibility during heavy rain.


Moon founded the Seoul-based Unification Church in the 1950s; the church owns hundreds of businesses, including News World Communications Inc., which owns United Press International

Northumberland Helicopter Crash

What: Helicopter
Where: Cloverdale Marsh, Northumberland County, Virginia 5 miles south of Chesapeake Beach, Va.
When: July 11, 1:00 pm
Who: two passengers, currently not identified, They were transported to the Middlesex County Airport in Topping, Va., where they were turned over to awaiting EMS personnel for treatment.
Why: Virginia State Police, the Northumberland Sheriffs and the coast guard investigated and the NTSB will take over the investigation.

Bay Area Crash Update

What: Schweizer 269 helicopter
Where: Sheridan Road near Interstate 680
When: 12:30 a.m. July 4
Who: fatalities: Eugene Khenson, 39, from Santa Clara and Antony B.J. Zani, 27, from Palo Alto
Why: Crashed after clipping power lines.

Note:
The helicopter was destroyed in the crash and the men died at the scene. Their names were just released.

Helicopter fatalities in Alameda County

What: Schweizer 269C helicopter owned by Quadrus Inc., a catering and conference center in Menlo Park
Where: Sheridan Road between Fremont and Sunol
When: 12:32 a.m
Who: fight instructor and student were killed
Why: Aircraft hit 60,000-volt power transmission lines and caught fire. Cloudy weather conditions but not raining.

After hitting the electrical wires, power lines were knocked into traffic lanes, and the burning helicopter ignited a 5 acre grass fire.

Helicopter Crash: Guatemala

What: Departing from Guatemala City bound for the northern jungle region of Peten
Where: north of the Guatemalan capital, near the small town of Senahu
When:
Who: All four people aboard the aircraft were killed, including Interior Minister Vinicio Gomez, deputy interior minister, Edgar Umana, the plane's pilot and co-pilot.
Why:Bad weather

Helicopter Crash: Southern California

What: Arctic Air Service charter company's Sikorsky copter
Where: 10 miles west of the Vandenberg Air Force Base, on platform Irene (oil rig)
When: 12:45 p.m. Friday
Who: Not released. two pilots and eight passengers on board, 4 injuries, 10 on deck. No fatalities.
Why: The copter's tail hit a derrick and the aircraft ended up on its side.


Six Action News Video

Crash: Martha's Vineyard

What: Helicopter
Where: Martha's Vineyard Sound, Tashmoo Pond
When: Saturday
Who: Four people Thomas and William O'Connell (pilot and son), Michelle Moussau and Melanie Smith
Why: Engine failure


Click to view WCVB news footage

Helicopter Crash: Fatal in Panama

What: 12-seat National Air Service helicopter
Where: PANAMA CITY, Panama
When: Thursday May 29
Who: Fatalities include Gen. Jose Alejandro Bernales and ten others, including victims in the building.
Why: undetermined