Robb & Robb reaches $90M settlement in NY helicopter crash

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We have obtained the two highest jury verdicts in U.S. History in helicopter crash trials.

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April 15, 2025

Robb & Robb reaches $90M settlement in NY helicopter crash

Kansas City Business Journal - April 14, 2025

Robb & Robb consists of Andrew Robb (from left), Gary Robb, Anita Robb and Brittany Robb.

BY JAMES DORNBROOK

After winning $116 million in a tourist helicopter crash case — the largest single verdict in New York history — Kansas City-based Robb & Robb LLC has secured a $90 million settlement to ensure there is no appeal.

The case involved a 2018 flight of a doorless helicopter that used store-bought fall-protection gear designed for construction workers, not aviation. The passenger tether got caught on a floor-mounted fuel shutoff control and caused the engine to stop running. The helicopter crash landed in New York’s East River. Only one float deployed, causing the helicopter to flip upside down in the river. The five passengers were unable to escape their harnesses, and all of them drowned.

Robb & Robb represented the family of one passenger, Trever Cadigan, in a wrongful death lawsuit.

A jury found that FlyNYON, which set up the flight, carried 42% of the fault. Liberty Helicopters, which owned the chopper and hired the pilot, carried 38% of the fault. Dart Aerospace, which made the faulty floatation device, carried 20% of the fault.

The $90 million cash settlement was the largest ever reached in New York history, according to VerdictSearch. The largest prior settlement was $25 million.

“Mr. Cadigan died the most horrific death a human could suffer,” Gary Robb, co-founder of Robb & Robb, said in a release. “The settlement forecloses any appeal of the $116 million jury verdict and brings to a close a seven-year legal court case.”

Robb & Robb has handled many high-profile cases, including a lawsuit filed by Vanessa Bryant, widow of the late Kobe Bryant, after he and their daughter Gianna died in a helicopter crash in 2020. The firm earned an $18 million settlement in a case where professional wrestler Owen Hart died at Kemper Arena in Kansas City in 1999 after falling out of a harness during a stunt. Robb & Robb also represented Jean Carnahan in a lawsuit filed after her husband, former Missouri Gov. Mel Carnahan, and son Randy died in a plane crash in 2000.

Other victories include two of the highest jury verdicts in U.S. history for helicopter crashes, worth $350 million and $70 million. The firm also obtained the largest personal injury pretrial cash settlement for any single injury in U.S. history of $100 million.

Categories:

Helicopter Accidents

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Unsurpassed Record of Success

We have secured over $2 billion in verdicts and settlements, becoming aviation’s most influential safety advocate. Our record includes the two highest U.S. helicopter crash jury verdicts—$350 million and $116 million—and we are the only firm to recover $100 million or more for a single aviation death or injury in five separate jurisdictions nationwide.
Family Led, Nationally Recognized

Led by two generations of one family – husband and wife Founding Partners Gary C. Robb and Anita Porte Robb, their son and Partner Andrew C. Robb along with his wife, Partner Brittany Sanders Robb, this law firm is nationally recognized as the leader in aviation litigation. Guided by integrity, courage, and accountability, they have become a moral force, driving modern aviation reform and safer skies nationwide.
Leading Authority in Aviation Law
With decades of focused aviation litigation experience, this firm brings unparalleled knowledge to the most complex cases. Founding Partner Gary C. Robb authored the authoritative text on helicopter law, and the firms’ attorneys are widely regarded as the foremost experts in the field. No law firm is better equipped to navigate the technical, regulatory, and legal challenges that aviation cases is demand.