Family of Houston Helicopter Crash Victims Sue $50 Million Against Helicopter and Skyscraper Operators – Houston Public Media

National Transportation Safety Board

A family of three people who died in a helicopter crash hit the radio tower On Friday, October 20, in Houston’s East End, he filed a $50 million wrongful death lawsuit against the company operating the plane and the owner of the tower.

The accident occurred around 8 p.m. that evening as Cesar Lerma and Marie Alonso and their son, 9-year-old Dylon Lerma, flew out of Ellington Airport for an overnight sightseeing tour of downtown Houston. All four people aboard a Robinson R44 helicopter, including pilot Samantha Grandbouche, died that evening when the helicopter struck a radio tower in Houston’s Second Ward.

The lawsuit was filed hours after the National Transportation Safety Board meeting published a preliminary report on the incident— which provided no conclusions about what exactly caused the crash.

Before the crash, Grandbouche made contact with an air traffic controller, who minutes later issued an advisory traffic warning about another company helicopter flight in the area. The report said the pilot confirmed traffic was visible.

“The controller requested the accident pilot to visually separate himself from traffic and the pilot was reading instructions when the radio transmission abruptly ended,” the report said. “No further communications have been received from the accident helicopter.”

The lawsuit filed Friday is against SBA Communications, the company that owns the tower, National Helicopter Solutions, which operates the helicopter, and Porter Equipment Holding, the helicopter’s owner.

“We hope to get to the root cause of the helicopter hitting the communications tower, whether it involves the pilot, the equipment and the tower,” said attorney Randy Sorrels. “There are a lot of unanswered questions that we just want answered.”

Sorrels said the lawsuit is seeking $50 million in an “attempt to attract industry-wide attention.”

“These failures are very easily preventable,” he said.

In a press release Friday, lawyers said it was unclear whether the tower was properly lit, whether procedures were in place, whether rules were followed and whether Grandbouche – who signed on as a defendant in the lawsuit – was properly trained.

“Porter Equipment Holding, the owner of the helicopter, was aware that the helicopter was used for night tours and it is unclear whether it had appropriate detection equipment on board,” the press release said.

According to the lawsuit, Marie Lerma’s niece and Dylon Lerma’s four-year-old cousin and best friend were also scheduled to fly, but the cousin became ill and prevented them from going.

“Dylon Maximus Lerma was a bright and imaginative child – wise for his short nine years,” family members said in a statement. “He had a passion for climbing, drawing and creating comics. He was full of the same love and light as his parents and was blessed to have two loving co-parents.”

Patricia Ortiz contributed to this report.