Suits filed in helicopter crash

Jennifer Knight

Thursday, Aug. 14, 2003 | 9:38 a.m.

The families of five of the six people who were killed in a Grand Canyon tour helicopter crash have filed civil lawsuits in District Court in Las Vegas seeking damages.

The lawsuits were filed just before a two-year statute of limitations ran out on the case. A lawyer said the amount of money sought in the lawsuits is in the millions of dollars.

The parents of Barbara Wajsbaum filed suit against Las Vegas-based Papillon Airways Inc. in the Aug. 10, 2001, crash that killed their daughter Barbara and her husband, Abraham Wajsbaum.

Chana Daskal, who survived the crash near Meadview, Ariz., but suffered from paralysis and burns and underwent 42 surgeries, is also suing. Her husband, David Daskal, died in the crash.

Relatives of Shiya Lichtenstein also filed papers along with the family of Arie Fastag. Both died in the crash.

"These are major major claims. These cases are all worth millions of dollars," said Gary Logan, the attorney representing the Wajsbaum and Fastag families.

The issue of liability in the case could take some time to figure out. In a separate case Papillon Airways named the aircraft's manufacturers, Aerospatiale; Eurocopter S.A.; American Eurocopter; and Zuni LLC as defendants in a suit claiming design flaws.

A report released last Thursday by the National Transportation Safety Board detailed early reports by Chana Daskal that the helicopter went quiet just before "falling out of the sky."

Officials representing Papillon have claimed they believe the aircraft lost its hydraulics, making it impossible for the helicopter to fly. NTSB reports have proved inconclusive as to the cause of the crash.

Some of the lawsuits will likely be consolidated into one case, Logan said.

"There's a tremendous amount of discovery involved in a case like this," Logan said. "I'm sure they will all be pointing at each other because these are major, major claims."