Helicopter maker, tour company sued over crash

Grace Leong

Thursday, Oct. 11, 2001 | 9:43 a.m.

The lone survivor of the deadly Grand Canyon air tour crash on Aug. 10 has filed the first of what may be several lawsuits over the tragedy. Chana Daskal alleges an engine malfunction and possibly pilot error caused the crash that killed six people.

Chana -- wife of David Daskal, who was one of five tourists from New York killed in the crash near Meadview, Ariz., some 60 miles east of Las Vegas -- sued Papillon Grand Canyon Helicopters of Grand Canyon, Ariz., its four principals and a mechanic.

The defendants also include the estate of Papillon's pilot Kevin Innocenti of Henderson, who was also killed in the crash; two Grand Prairie, Texas-based helicopter and engine parts makers American Eurocopter Corp. and Turbomeca Engine Corp., and Zuni LLC, a Washington-based helicopter retailer.

Daskal, a 25-year old mother of two, suffered burns over 80 percent of her body and is still at University Medical Center. The five tourists killed were Avi and Barbara Wajsbaum and Daskal, who died from burns and blunt force trauma, Aryeh Zvi Fastag, who died from burns and Shiya Lichtenstein, who died from head injuries, coroners said.

The suit said the Daskals were passengers in a 1991 Eurocopter A5350-B2 they boarded in Las Vegas and were flying near Arizona's Grand Wash Cliffs, 4 miles east of Meadview, when the helicopter engine suddenly stopped running. The aircraft "plummeted downward and crashed into the Grand Wash Cliffs 3,700 feet up a 5,600-foot escarpment," the suit said.

Chana Daskal was "pulled from the wreckage awake and alert and was transported by a Flight for Life helicopter to UMC for immediate treatment," the suit said. Chana has received skin graft operations due to severe burns, suffered a broken spine and undergone amputation of her left leg, the suit said.

Joe Benson, Daskal's attorney, said: "She has turned the corner and is on a long road to recovery. She has the will to live and is going to recover. But she still has tremendous burns over 80 percent of her body."

While he doesn't know exactly what caused the crash because investigations are continuing, he said federal investigations so far indicate faulty design and maintenance on the part of the helicopter and engine makers.

"The design and manufacture (of the Arriel 1 helicopter engine) allowed the engine metal to get hot enough to disintegrate, forcing metal fragments into the turbines ... and allowed for torsional overload of the engine or a twisting of the rotating components inside the engine, evidenced by scoring and/or rubbing," the suit said.

A National Transportation Safety Board preliminary report said Chana Daskal had told paramedics: "It got quiet and fell from the sky."

"Her comment of total silence (before the helicopter plummeted) is highly suggestive of a hydraulics system lock-up. Torsional overload indicates hydraulics failure. When the hydraulics system fails, that means there's no power sent to the propeller and engine," Benson said. "Defective maintenance would have caused hydraulics failure, which would point to negligence on the part of maintenance."

The lawsuit also alleged pilot error. Benson said he couldn't comment on Innocenti's role, but said the pilot's estate was sued because of the possibility of pilot error. Federal Aviation Administration officers said Innocenti's pilot's license was in good standing and he had no record of accidents or discipline.

Turbomeca officials and Robert Graff, Papillon's vice president of marketing, declined comment on the allegations. The other defendants could not be reached for comment.