Jury Awards $116M to Victim's Family in NYC Helicopter Crash

A New York jury awarded $116 million to the family of Trevor Cadigan, one of five victims in a fatal 2018 helicopter crash. Cadigan, a 26-year-old journalist, died when a no-door helicopter sank into New York City's East River, trapping passengers in safety harnesses. Family lawyer Gary C. Robb described the harnesses, meant for construction rather than aviation use, as "a death trap."

Blame was divided: FlyNYON, which organized the flight, was assigned 42% of the liability, Liberty Helicopters, the helicopter's owner, 38%, and Dart Aerospace, maker of a flotation device that failed to work, 20%. The crash occurred after a tether caught on a floor-mounted fuel shutoff switch, stopping the engine. The National Transportation Safety Board concluded that FlyNYON had installed hard-to-escape harnesses and exploited regulatory gaps to dodge stricter safety requirements.

The accident led the Federal Aviation Administration to temporarily ground similar flights, resuming with safer restraint requirements. Robb noted the Cadigan family's lawsuit aimed to halt such dangerous flights. Trevor Cadigan's friend, Dallas firefighter Brian McDaniel, and three others also perished. The lawsuit's resolution came just after the death of Cadigan's father, Dallas journalist Jerry Cadigan, who passed away during a trial break. (This story was generated by Newser's AI chatbot. Source: the AP)