Kansas City Law Firm Retained in Three Helicopter Crash Cases
Vertical - September 25, 2008
The Kansas City, Missouri law firm of Robb & Robb LLC recently has been retained in three of these helicopter crashes.
In the first case, the firm was retained to represent the family of a young man who was killed when a helicopter lost power, struck him and dragged his body along the pavement. Isaiah Otieno, age 20, was a student at The College of the Rockies in British Columbia, Canada. A helicopter used to inspect power lines suffered engine failure and could not maintain altitude. The crash occurred on May 13, 2008.
The firm was hired by Otieno’s father, Dalmas Otieno, who is the Minister of State for Public Affairs in Kenya.
The second case involved a fatal air ambulance helicopter crash in LaCrosse, Wisconsin on May 10, 2008. The helicopter was on a return trip to Madison, Wisconsin after ferrying a patient to a hospital. Killed in the crash were a flight physician, flight nurse, and pilot. The twin-engine helicopter lost power in one engine and struck a hill shortly after takeoff.
The third case involved the crash of a Hughes model 269B helicopter in Saylesville, Arkansas on July 15, 2008. The pilot and passenger were killed when the helicopter struck power lines during an inspection. Several witnesses reported that the engine was sputtering and losing power prior to striking the wires.
Earlier this year, the firm obtained an $18.4 million settlement involving a Life Net helicopter which crashed in Lincoln, Nebraska resulting in the death of all three occupants (Scollard et. al. v. Eurocopter, C I-02-2620-22, District Court of Lancaster County, Nebraska). “Helicopters are unique aircraft,” said Gary C. Robb. “If there is any in-flight malfunction, helicopters do not glide and the consequences are typically catastrophic.”
In 1995, Robb & Robb helicopter crash lawyers obtained the two highest jury verdicts in helicopter crash cases in the U.S., a $350 million jury verdict on behalf of a helicopter pilot who experienced an in-flight engine failure (Barnett v. La Societe Anonyme Turbomecca France, 963 S.W. 2d 939, Western District of Missouri Court of Appeals), and a $70 million jury verdict on behalf of a 20 year old woman who was a passenger on board that same helicopter (Letz v. Turbomecca, 975 S. W. 2d 155, Western District Missouri Court of Appeals). The firm also has the highest settlement in any helicopter crash litigation, a $38 million cash settlement involving a young woman who was severely burned when her tour helicopter crashed in the Grand Canyon (Daskal, er. Al. v. Aerospetiale , Case No. A471961 Clark Co. Dist. Court, Las Vegas, Nevada).
Robb & Robb has been recognized by national media and a number of professional organizations as the leading helicopter crash law firm in the United States.
