Attorneys for offshore oil helicopter service operator PHI and an attorney representing the family of the lone crash survivor are accusing Sikorsky of suppressing evidence related to the cause of a 2009 crash that killed eight aboard an S-76C++ near Morgan City, La., after a bird strike to the windshield.
In a federal court filing in August, PHI’s attorneys asked for legal sanctions and monetary damages against the helicopter manufacturer for failing to disclose an internal Sikorsky report in the original post-crash litigation. That report faulted the helicopter’s original windshield sill and throttle quadrant design–not the lighter-weight Aeronautical Accessories replacement windshield PHI installed after delivery–as significant causal factors in the crash. Post-crash analysis indicated the throttles disengaged after the bird strike by a red tail hawk. PHI and Aeronautical Accessories settled with the relatives of crash victims. PHI is seeking to recapture 80 percent of those settlements from Sikorsky because of the evidence in the allegedly suppressed report. PHI attorneys said the 2009 report, by Sikorsky engineer Dr. Wonsub Kim, “undermines Sikorsky’s entire defense.” A Sikorsky spokesman said the company will defend itself “strongly” against the charges.
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