NC Meteorologist’s Widow Gets $126M In Wrongful Death Deal
Law360 - September 22, 2025
BY HAYLEY FOWLER
The Total Traffic and Weather Network and its parent company will pay $126 million to settle a negligence case by the widow of a local meteorologist who died in a helicopter crash —$50 million of which its primary insurers must cover immediately, according to North Carolina state court filings.
Jillian Ann Myers, widow of the late meteorologist Jason Myers, agreed to settle her case against TTWN Media Networks LLC and its parent companies iHeartCommunications Inc. and iHeartMedia Inc. for $105 million, according to a final judgment entered Sept. 18 in Mecklenburg County Superior Court. Judge Forrest D. Bridges also signed off on $21.28 million in prejudgment interest, bringing the total settlement value to $126.28 million.
Under Judge Bridges’ order, the network’s primary insurer must pay a lump sum of $50 million to the Myers family within 60 days of final judgment. TTWN has given Jillian Myers the go-ahead to pursue the remainder of the settlement against its excess and umbrella insurers, which have thus far denied coverage.
The law firm of Robb & Robb LLC, which represents Jillian Myers, touted the settlement as a “North Carolina record for a single wrongful death” in a statement Monday.
“Mr. Myers’s death resulted from the pilot’s inability to operate or control the main rotor blade inflight due to the TTWN Defendant’s multiple operational and maintenance errors,” attorney Gary C. Robb said. “Even TTWN’s own witnesses admitted that the helicopter was not airworthy on the date of the crash, and Mr. Myers’s death was both predictable and totally preventable.”
Robb added that the Myers family “wants to improve safety practices industry wide, so no other lives are lost as a result.”
Counsel for the defendants did not immediately respond Monday to a request for comment.
According to court records, 41-year-old Jason Myers was a staff meteorologist for local TV station WBTV at the time of his death. On Nov. 22, 2022, he was on board a helicopter piloted by Chip Tayag that was circling a simulated news scene when the aircraft went down right off Interstate 77 in Charlotte, per an incident report by the National Transportation Safety Board.
The helicopter was destroyed on impact, and Myers and Tayag died in the crash, the NTSB said.
The following March, Jillian Myers sued TTWN and its parent company, which operated the helicopter, for negligence. According to Robb & Robb LLC, TTWN had used a nut that was defective and known to “crack and come apart” to connect the helicopter’s control rod to the main rotor mast assembly, despite warnings from the helicopter’s manufacturer to use a safer replacement.
In his final judgment, Judge Bridges pointed to Jillian Myers’s testimony about the extent of the family’s losses since the crash, saying, “It is apparent that the death of Jason Myers has had a profound and immense impact on his wife and the four children he left behind.”
He also cited an accident reconstruction expert’s findings that Jason Myers would have known for at least 13 seconds before the helicopter made impact that it was going down, meaning he would have suffered “uncontrollable panic as well as hopelessness” in those final moments, according to the order.
Those findings, coupled with additional evidence about Jason Myers’ career ambitions and loss of earnings, support the parties’ estimation that Jillian Myers could have won $150 million in compensatory damages if the case went to trial in October, Judge Bridges said.
According to the final judgment, TTWN is insured for up to $50 million in losses under its primary insurance policy for aviation.
The defendants also have excess and umbrella policies, but Judge Bridges said those insurers denied coverage just before the parties were set to go to mediation in July.
“The TTWN defendants were stunned and astounded by the timing and decision of the umbrella and excess carriers to decline coverage and believed it was ‘tantamount to an ambush,'” the judge said.
He noted the excess and umbrella insurers had to know TTWN operated, maintained and flew helicopters due to the nature of its business. The judge also said WBTV was listed as an insured on each of the excess and umbrella policies.
In an initial attempt to resolve the case, TTWN proposed a $50 million settlement. But Jillian Myers rejected that proposal, countering instead with a $150 million settlement offer. Both sides ultimately compromised with the $105 million figure, according to the final judgment.
“The court expressly agrees with plaintiff and TTWN defendants that the trial value of the wrongful death claim as contrasted with the settlement valuation is $150 million such that the negotiated reasonable settlement valuation of$105 million is extremely reasonable on its face,” Judge Bridges said.
He noted Jillian Myers’ counsel is “extremely experienced in handling aviation litigation matters.” Her attorney Gary C. Robb represented Vanessa Bryant in a wrongful death suit on behalf of NBA legend Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna, who died in a 2020 helicopter crash.
Jillian Myers is represented by Gary C. Robb, Anita Porte Robb, Andrew C. Robb and Brittany Sanders Robb of Robb &Robb LLC.
The defendants are represented by William M. Starr of Baker Donelson Bearman Caldwell Berkowitz PC.
The case is Jillian Ann Myers vs. Wilson Air Center NC LLC, case number 23CVS004071-590, in Mecklenburg County Superior Court.
