Victims of Hawaii helicopter crash sue

December 27, 2007

By Peter Boylan
Advertiser Staff Writer

A New Hampshire couple that was seriously injured in a fatal helicopter crash on Kaua'i this year is suing the aircraft's owner and parts manufacturers, citing faulty design and substandard materials, according to a lawsuit filed in O'ahu circuit court yesterday.
Judy L. Barton, 51, of Newport, N.H., suffered a spinal injury in the March 11 crash and is paralyzed from the waist down. Her husband, Douglas W. Barton, 60, suffered a broken arm in the crash.

Passenger Michael Gershon, 60, of Walnut Creek, Calif., was killed in the crash of Inter-Island Helicopters' Hughes 500. Another passenger, Dania Hansen, 60, of Los Altos, Calif., suffered serious injuries.

The helicopter was built by McDonnell Douglas Helicopter Systems in 1987 and was owned by Smoky Mountain Helicopters Inc., doing business as Inter-Island Helicopters, according to FAA records.

It previously had been used by the Ventura County Sheriff's Department in California, according to FAA records.

The suit, filed by L. Richard Fried Jr., names the Boeing Co., Aluminum Precision Products Inc. and Smoky Mountain Helicopters. Boeing merged with McDonnell Douglas in 1997.

The suit seeks unspecified damages.

Fried could not be reached yesterday for comment.

Messages left with Boeing, Smoky Mountain Helicopters and Aluminum Precision Products were not immediately returned yesterday.

On March 11, the helicopter's tail section blew apart in flight, and witnesses saw at least two pieces fall to the ocean.

The Inter-Island Helicopters aircraft, also designated as a McDonnell Douglas 369, with a pilot and four passengers, crashed into the grass at the YMCA's Camp Naue, killing Gershon.

Passengers and witnesses reported hearing one or two loud bangs before the crash. At the crash scene, the entire tail rotor section was missing.

Pilot Donald Torres told the National Transportation Safety Board that he had inspected the tail rotor section more than once that day without noting anything out of order. Among the inspection results were "no signs of cracks, dings, or delaminating of the surface and leading edges of the tail rotor blades," all nuts were properly seated and no visible cracks in any of the parts of the tail rotor assembly were found.

The helicopter was being flown with the doors off, as is customary.

Torres said that after he heard a noise, the helicopter turned to the right and failed to respond to the control pedals. He said he realized that his tail rotor, which helps control the direction of the helicopter's body under the turning main rotor, had somehow failed.

Torres saw the lawn of the YMCA camp and directed the spinning helicopter toward it. He managed to reach the edge of it, but struck a large false kamani tree and landed on a fence, which shattered from the impact.

The helicopter ended up on its side.

The initial inspection of the remaining portion of the tail rotor gearbox at the NTSB's Materials Laboratory found overstress fractures in remaining metal parts. But no cause for the stress that destroyed the rotor section has been identified.

Reach Peter Boylan at pboylan@honoluluadvertiser.com.

Confidential Xerox worker shot in workplace mass murder

Confidential Child killed when boat hits whale

Confidential Financial services executive

Confidential Insurance industry executive

$1 billion State Tobacco litigation (consortium of Hawaii and mainland law firms)

$67 million Defective asbestos building material

$63 million Repair and replacement of asbestos building material in state buildings

$27.7 million Chevron gasoline tank fire kills two workers

$20 million Unsafe agricultural chemical

$20 million Chemical contamination of drinking water

$16.5 million Childbirth Malpractice

$13 million Paralysis in rear-end collision

$13 million Defective automobile design

$13 million Construction site fire burns workers

$13 million Paralysis in head-on collision

$12 million Defective agricultural chemical

$8 million Childbirth malpractice

$8 million Hospital error resulting in brain damage

$7 million Paralysis when hit by a truck

$6.5 million Highway construction accident

$6 million Head injury in trucking accident

$5.5 million Military hospital malpractice

$4.8 million Defective diet supplement

$4.8 million Prescription pill complication

$4.3 million Emergency Room malpractice

$4.3 million Defective prescription medicine

$4 million Improper spinal injury treatment

$3.5 million Tourist hit by delivery truck

$3.5 million Family rear-ended by truck

$3.5 million Private airplane crash

$3.4 million Hotel defect accident

$3-4 million University president (settlement depends on future benefit payments)

$3 million Singapore tramway accident

$3 million Defective military ordnance

$3 million Helicopter crash in South China Sea

$3 million Executive killed on business trip

$3 million Helicopter hit by missile

$3 million Failure to properly diagnose condition

$3 million Scenic tramway accident

$2.8 million Helicopter crash

$2.7 million Defective automobile design

$2.5 million Anesthesia malpractice

$2.5 million Bicycle accident with roadway defect

$2.5 million Bicycle collision with defective trailer

$2.3 million Dangerous medical vaccine

$2.1 million Plane crashes into hotel

$2 million Saipan airplane crash

$2 million Defective industrial equipment

$2 million Oil facility fire

$2 million Forklift accident on docks

$2 million Industrial plant equipment accident

$2 million Surgical malpractice

$2 million Manila Hotel fire

$2 million Pedestrian hit in crosswalk

$2 million Tourist hit by semi-truck

$2 million Collision of two trucks

$2 million Accident caused by racer

$2 million Seaplane crash

$1.8 million Long shore worker accident

$1.8 million Electrical malfunction

$1.7 million Decompression chamber incident

$1.5 million Massachusetts car accident

$1.4 million Scuba accident

$1.4 million Japanese citizen hit by crashing plane

$1.3 million Helicopter crash

$1.3 million Helicopter mechanical failure

$1.3 million Defective construction equipment

$1.3 million Sports equipment malfunction

$1.2 million Police helicopter crash

$1.2 million Defective sports equipment

$1.1 million Northern Marianas LPG gas fire

$1.1 million Defective vaccine

$1 million Swine Flu shot complication

$1 million Defective fireworks

$1 million Catamaran accident

$1 million Fireworks malfunction

$1 million Hot water heater accident

$850,000 Scuba diving accident

$800,000 Scuba lesson accident

View All

August 02, 2007
Suicide Plea Failed at Tripler: Veteran Dead Read Story

August 02, 2007
Best Lawyers in Hawaii Read Story

All Firm News

FirmSite® by FindLaw, a Thomson Reuters business.