The parents of a British tourist who was killed alongside his wife when a helicopter crashed in the Grand Canyon have been awarded a £78,610,000 cash settlement.
Jonathan and Ellie Milward Udall, 29, boarded the doomed helicopter with three others who were killed in the crash in 2018.
The pair died of complications from burn injuries, but Jonathan’s parents claim they would have survived if the fuel tank was not ‘basically a firebomb’.
They allege the helicopter’s fuel tank lacked a crash-resistant fuel system causing it to burst into flames.
Three of the British tourists on boarded were pronounced dead at the scene: Veterinary receptionist Becky Dobson, 27, her boyfriend and car salesman Stuart Hill, 30, and Mr Hill’s brother, 32-year-old lawyer Jason Hill.
All of them were on the trip to celebrate Stuart’s birthday.
The pilot, Scott Booth, fractured his lower left leg, and passenger Jennifer Barham had a spinal fracture. They also suffered severe burns but survived.
Since then, both of Mr Booth’s legs have been amputated.
Jonathan’s parents have been awarded £19.3 million from the operator of the helicopter, Papillon Airways, and £59.3 million from French manufacturer Airbus Helicopters SAS.
The family’s lawyer Gary Robb insisted the settlement terms should be made to the public to raise awareness about aircraft tanks which are prone to erupting.
He said: ‘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.
‘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.’
Mr Robb added helicopter manufacturers are aware the old-fashioned, hard-plastic fuel tanks are prone to rupturing during hard landings.
‘The fuel pours on to the passengers, then ignites. It’s just horrible,’ he said. ‘The three people on the right side of the aircraft never escaped. They were completely burned in their seats.’
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said turbulent winds were a probable cause of the loss of control and tail-rotor effectiveness before the hard landing outside the national park boundaries.
Its final accident report in January 2021 said the investigation found no evidence of mechanical problems with the helicopter but noted it lacked a crash-resistant fuel system.
The helicopters in Papillon’s fleet were not required to have them, but the company has since retrofitted the aircraft with fuel tanks that expand and seal on impact instead of rupturing.
Papillon Helicopters spokesman Matt Barkett said safety is the company’s top priority, and noted the NTSB concluded there were no mechanical problems ‘and our pilot was not found to be at fault due to the extreme weather conditions’.
‘Crash resistant fuel cells were installed in Papillon’s entire fleet once the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) approved their use in the months following this accident. We continue to extend our sympathies to the families of the victims and now close this difficult chapter in our history,’ he added.
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