Family of British tourist among 5 killed in 2018 Grand Canyon helicopter crash wins $100M settlement
A Nevada judge has approved a $100 million cash settlement to the parents of a 31-year-old British tourist who died in a helicopter crash at the Grand Canyon
RENO, Nev. — A Nevada judge has approved a $100 million cash settlement to the parents of a British tourist who was among five killed — including his newlywed wife — when a helicopter crashed and burst into flames in the Grand Canyon in 2018.
Under the settlement approved in Las Vegas on Friday, the family of Jonathan Udall, 31, will receive $24.6 million from the operator of the helicopter, Papillon Airways Inc., and $75.4 million from its French manufacturer, Airbus Helicopters SAS.
The family's lawyer, Gary C. Robb of Kansas City, Missouri, said they insisted the settlement terms be made public to raise awareness about aircraft fuel tanks they say are prone to rupturing.
“The parents say the fuel tank was basically a fire bomb,” Robb told The Associated Press late Monday.
Lawyers for the defendants, Eric Lyttle for Airbus Helicopters Inc., and William Katt for Papillon Airways, confirmed the terms, according to a transcript of a hearing Friday in Clark County District Court.
They did not immediately return calls late Monday or respond to emails Tuesday from The Associated Press.
Jonathan and Ellie Milward Udall, 29, boarded the helicopter from Boulder City, Nevada, with the three others who were killed. They were touring the Grand Canyon on the Hualapai reservation, outside the boundaries of the national park, when the crash happened.
The family’s lawsuit alleged the helicopter was unsafe because it lacked a crash-resistant fuel system that's now required for aircraft built after the Federal Aviation Administration issued new regulations in 2020.
Robb said some
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