A tour helicopter crash in the Grand Canyon.Photo:Teddy Fujimoto via AP
Teddy Fujimoto via AP
The parents of a British tourist who was killed along with four others ina 2018 helicopter crash in the Grand Canyonwill receive a $100 million settlement.
Udall and his wife Ellie Milward, 29, were aboard the Airbus EC130 B4 helicopter along with Becky Dobson, 27, Dobson’s boyfriend Stuart Hill, 30, and his brother Jason Hill, 32, when it spun out of control and crashed in the Grand Canyon in February 2018, theBBCreported. The helicopter trip was to celebrate Stuart Hill’s birthday and Udall and Milward’s recent marriage.
Dobson and the Hills were pronounced dead at the scene. Udall suffered burns on 90% of his body and died 12 days later, while Milward succumbed to her burn injuries shortly after the death of Udall, per the BBC.
PEOPLE reached out to both Papillon and Airbus for comment, but they did not immediately respond.
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“Jonathan Udall suffered the most agonizing death imaginable,” Gary C. Robb, an attorney for the Udall family, said in a statement via his firm’s news release shared with PEOPLE Wednesday. “He was burned alive and then stranded for over seven hours in a ravine at the Grand Canyon. He fought for his life in the hospital for 12 days before he died.”
The pilot and another passenger suffered injuries but survived, the AP reported.
Jonathan Udall and wife Ellie Milward.
“Mr. Udall would have survived without any injury if the helicopter [had] been properly equipped with a crash-resistant fuel system,” Robb explained in his statement.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said that rough winds were a likely cause for the loss of control of the helicopter. The agency noted in its final report, based on an investigation, that the chopper did not have a crash-resistant fuel system, per the AP.
The helicopters in Papillon’s fleet weren’t required to have them equipped, but the company has since retrofitted the aircraft with fuel tanks that expand and seal upon impact instead of rupturing.
Papillon Helicopters spokesman Matt Barkett told the AP that safety is a priority to the company. He echoed the NTSB’s conclusion that there were no mechanical problems on the aircraft, adding, “Our pilot was not found to be at fault due to the extreme weather conditions.”
“The Udall family wants to shine a spotlight on this issue so the industry will take note and voluntarily seek to correct this public health issue,” said Robb, via the AP. “They don’t want anyone else to go through what their son went through in an otherwise survivable accident — not a broken bone. He would have walked away.”
source: people.com
