The parents of a British tourist who died along with four others in a 2018 helicopter crash in the Grand Canyon will receive $100 million in compensation.
As reported by the Associated Press, the family of 31-year-old Jonathan Udall will receive $24.6 million from Papillon Airways Inc., the operator of the helicopter, and $75.4 million from Airbus Helicopters SAS, the manufacturer. The settlement was approved by a judge in Nevada last Friday,
Udall and his wife Ellie Milward, 29, were in the Airbus EC130 B4 helicopter along with Becky Dobson, 27, Dobson’s boyfriend Stuart Hill, 30, and his brother Jason Hill, 32, when the helicopter spun out of control and crashed into the Grand Canyon. in February 2018, the BBC reported. The helicopter trip was to celebrate Stuart Hill’s birthday and the recent wedding of Udall and Milward.
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Dobson and Hills were pronounced dead at the scene. Udall suffered burns over 90% of his body and died 12 days later, while Milward succumbed to her burns shortly after Udall’s death, reports the BBC.
PEOPLE reached out to both Papillon and Airbus for comment, but they did not immediately respond.
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“Jonathan Udall suffered the worst death imaginable,” Gary C. Robb, the attorney for the Udall family, said in a statement via a press release his firm shared with PEOPLE on Wednesday. “He was burned alive and then stranded for more than seven hours in a gorge in the Grand Canyon. He fought for his life in the hospital for 12 days before he died.”
The pilot and another passenger were injured, but survived, reports AP.
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Jonathan Udall and wife Ellie Milward.
A lawsuit filed on behalf of Udall’s family alleged that a crash-resistant fuel system was not equipped on the helicopter, resulting in the fuel tank igniting on low impact, according to a news release issued by Robb’s company.
“MR. Udall would have survived without any injuries if it was a helicopter [had] properly equipped with a crash-resistant fuel system,” Robb explained in his statement.
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The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said strong winds were the likely cause of the loss of control of the helicopter. The agency said in its final report, based on the investigation, that the helicopter did not have a crash-resistant fuel system, according to the AP.
The helicopters in Papillon’s fleet were not required to be equipped, but the company has since retrofitted the aircraft with fuel tanks that expand and seal on impact instead of rupturing.
Papillon Helicopters spokesman Matt Barkett told the AP that safety is the company’s priority. He reiterated the NTSB’s conclusion that there were no mechanical problems with the plane, adding: “Our pilot was not found to be at fault due to extreme weather conditions.”
Following the $100 million settlement, Robb added in a statement from his company that the Udall family plans to use the proceeds to advocate for helicopter safety and support burn survivors.
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“The Udall family wants to bring attention to this issue so that the industry will take note and voluntarily seek to correct this public health problem,” Robb said via the AP. “They don’t want anyone else to go through what their son went through in an otherwise survivable accident — not a broken bone. He would go.”
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Source: HIS Education