The parents of a British tourist who died from burns he suffered in a Grand Canyon helicopter crash have been awarded a £78,000,000 payout.
Jonathan Udall, 31, was in Las Vegas on his honeymoon with new wife Ellie Milward, 29, along with his brother Jason Hill, 32, friend Becky Dobson, 27 and her boyfriend Stuart Hill, 30.
On February 10, 2018, the five Brits were on a helicopter tour of the Grand Canyon when the Airbus EC130 B4 crashed and burst into flames.
All five died as a result of the crash, with Dobson, Stuart Hill and his brother pronounced dead at the scene.
Meanwhile, Udall suffered burns over 90 per cent of his body. After 12 days in hospital, he died of his injuries.
Milward had managed to climb free of the helicopter, but was trapped for several hours hundreds of feet down in the canyon, where emergency services struggled to get to her. She died of her burn injuries a few days after her husband.
Pilot Scott Booth and passenger Jennifer Barham both suffered severe burns but survived the crash.
Following the tragedy, Udall’s parents, Philip and Marlene, filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Airbus Helicopters SAS and its operator, Papillon Airways.
They argued their son would not have suffered such “”severe and catastrophic burns” if a crash-resistant fuel tank had been installed on the helicopter.
Under the settlement approved by a US judge in Clark County, Nevada on Friday (January 5), Mr and Mrs Udall will receive $75.4m (£59.3m) from Airbus Helicopters SAS, and $24.6m (£19.4m) from Papillon Airways, Sky News reports.
Their lawyer Gary C Robb said in a statement that the couple plan to use some of the money to promote helicopter safety so that “no other parents have to go through what they went through with their son.”
“The family wanted to shine a spotlight on this public health issue because there are too many helicopters that have this very unsafe, flimsy fuel tank,” Robb told the PA news agency.
“When the helicopter makes a hard landing, it opens up and pours fuel onto the passengers, soaks them in the fuel, and then it ignites and they are then covered in flame.
“It is horrific. And it should be corrected immediately.”
A 2021 report by the National Transportation Safety Board in the US concluded that the likely cause of the crash was Booth losing control of the aircraft due to tailwind conditions.
Booth had told police the helicopter encountered a “violent gust of wind” and started spinning.
He fractured his lower leg in the crash and has since had both his legs amputated.
Barham also suffered a spinal fracture in the crash.
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