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Our firm's cases
have been featured on...
Our firm's cases
have been featured on...
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"Attorney Gary Robb is by far the most successful helicopter crash trial lawyer in the country"
![]() Our law firm has handled many utility wire helicopter crashes over the years. Helicopters are being used increasingly in the utilities industry for the inspection and maintenance of their transmission lines. That industry is also using helicopter crews to collect data for system quality and for transmission line maintenance planning. These utilities also use helicopters for line inspections, stringing wire, setting poles and for placing crews and equipment in areas otherwise inaccessible. This flight mission brings the helicopter in close proximity to horizontally strung utility lines or telephone wires. These are typically difficult for helicopter pilots to see and are especially hazardous to a helicopter. Many crashes have resulted from the helicopter pilot’s inadvertent flight into wires. Utility companies routinely hire private helicopter operators to inspect these lines or wires. Some utilities have begun purchasing and operating their own helicopters. For example, the Tennessee Valley Authority currently owns and operates seven helicopters. Flying a helicopter in a low altitude environment where wires are present requires a degree of skill which is more complex and demanding than other types of helicopter flying. Nothing about the common helicopter flight mission experience prepares pilots for operating in that wire environment. There is no FAA examination of a helicopter pilot for proficiency or competency flying a helicopter in a wire environment such as in the course of conducting utility line inspections. A number of specific safety precautions can be undertaken to dramatically reduce the incidents of helicopter wire strike. Wire Strike Protection Systems (WSPS) provide some measure of protection from inadvertent flight into horizontally strung wires but only where the helicopter strikes the wires while flying on a straight and level path. Pilots must know and understand the limitations of any WSPS installed on their helicopter. ![]() Various devices have been marketed which purport to provide wire strike protection in the event the helicopter flies into utility wires or cables. Such WSPS equipment consists of an upper cutter or scissor-like blade placed along the front of the helicopter’s nose in an upward angle and a lower cutter angled downward and affixed below the nose. These cutters are intended to guide any contacted wire to a jaw area which contains sharp saw-like blades. Unfortunately, such systems provide only limited protection as the helicopter must be flying straight and level upon contact and they provide potential protection only from frontal strikes against horizontally strung wires. Where such a system had been installed on a helicopter and fails to provide an appropriate measure of protection against a wire strike, the manufacturer of such devices has been sued on theories of misrepresentation, fraud and design defect. In such a scenario, counsel must assess the specific warranties and representations made by the seller to determine whether they overpromised the degree of protection to be afforded.
For any utility wire inspection mission the helicopter pilot should not take on the added workload of flying the helicopter and inspecting wires.
A separate spotter or observer should be tasked solely with the responsibility of inspecting wires leaving the pilot devoted to flight
responsibilities. Stricter guidelines should be imposed on utility companies which operate in the vicinity of airports or known aircraft flight paths. These utility companies should be required to place marker balls on all utility wires in known flight paths so that they may be visible to helicopters routinely flying at low altitude. ![]() We wrote the book on helicopter crashes. Helicopter Crash Litigation by Gary C. Robb was first published in 2010. The Second Edition of this acclaimed book was published in 2015.
"This book is an essential volume...by accomplished trial lawyer Gary Robb, who has used these same techniques in a brilliant career..."
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![]() Our law firm has obtained the two (2) highest jury verdicts ever in helicopter crash trials: $350 million Our law firm obtained the two (2) highest jury verdicts ever in helicopter crash trials: A $350 million verdict for a pilot killed in a life flight helicopter crash, and a separate $70 million verdict for a passenger killed in that same helicopter crash. This crash involved a Turbomeca helicopter engine which failed in flight due to a defect in the nozzle guide vane. ![]() Our law firm has obtained the two (2) largest settlements in U.S. history for a single injury in a helicopter crash: $100 million A $100 million settlement for flight nurse’s severe burn injuries in the Colorado crash of a medical helicopter, which is also the largest pretrial settlement in U.S. history for a single plaintiff in a personal injury case. $38 million A $38 million settlement for a young woman severely injured in a touring helicopter crash at the Grand Canyon which is the second highest settlement in U.S. history for a single helicopter crash injury. Defendants in the case included Papillon, Eurocopter and Turbomeca. |
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