The mother of a budding journalist whose safety belt did not release and who died in a horrific helicopter crash over the East River in 2018 won a $116 million legal verdict on Wednesday, the largest in New York history.
A Manhattan Supreme Court jury awarded the record-keeping award to Nancy Cadigan, the mother of Trevor Cadigan, 26, who drowned along with four other passengers when the helicopter he was traveling on crashed into the East River in March 2018.
Ms Cadigan's parents were originally named as plaintiffs in the case, but her father, Jerry, a broadcast journalist, died in July aged 72 and was therefore unable to live to see the verdict.
Gary C. Robb, a Kansas City lawyer representing Ms. Cadigan's parents, praised the jury for “holding these companies accountable for their immoral and reckless conduct” at the end of a three-month trial.
The $116,067,076 award handed down Wednesday marks the largest jury verdict in a single wrongful death case in New York state history, according to legal research firm Verdict Search.
The lawsuit alleges that door-less helicopter tours, popular with photographers looking to capture a photo of people dangling their legs over the city, are far more dangerous than regular door-less tours because they require a much more restrictive harness and tether system that is much harder to release in an emergency than the harnesses in a regular helicopter.
The sole survivor, helicopter pilot Richard Vance (who was also originally a defendant in Cadigan's lawsuit), survived largely because he was not restrained in the same way, authorities said at the time.
“The operators of this doorless helicopter tour put Trevor in a death trap and they knew it – they were fully aware for months that passengers would have no chance of escaping from the makeshift harness and tether system in the event of an emergency water landing,” Robb said.
Flynyon, the charter company with which Cadigan was traveling at the time of his death, is still in business. Doors Off TourHowever, following the accident, the FAA issued an order to equip the planes with harnesses that are easier to remove in an emergency.
According to the verdict document, the jury found both FLYON and the helicopter's owner, Liberty Helicopter, to be roughly equally liable. A third defendant, aerospace parts manufacturer Dart, was also found liable for a defective inflation device that failed to deploy when the helicopter landed on water. Airbus, the helicopter's manufacturer, was found not liable.
Cadigan's best friend, Dallas firefighter Brian McDaniel, 26, also drowned in the horrific accident. His family settled a similar lawsuit in 2022.
Attorneys for FLYON and Liberty Helicopter did not respond to requests for comment. Attorneys for Dart did not respond by time of publication.
