Survivors of five sightseeing helicopter passengers killed in a mid-air crash over the Hudson River last summer have sued the tour operators and other defendants in federal court in Newark, N.J.
The decedents, members of two families from the vicinity of Bologna, Italy, departed from the West 30th Street Heliport in Manhattan on Aug. 8 and collided with a small plane at 1,100 feet. Both aircraft plunged into the river near Hoboken, N.J., killing everyone on board.
The defendants are Meridian Consulting, the corporation that owned the helicopter; Liberty Helicopters, the Linden, N.J., company that ran the helicopter tours; LCA Partnership of Pennsylvania, which owned the plane; and the estate of Steven Altman, the plane's pilot.
They are facing claims for negligence, wrongful death, willful and wanton misconduct and liability based on res ipsa loquitur.
The complaints also indicate the plaintiffs have filed tort claim notices against the Federal Aviation Administration in anticipation of suing the agency. The FAA's "procedures for controlling traffic in the busy Hudson River corridor, were antiquated, ineffective, and bound to result in hazardous conditions for those traversing the corridor," the complaints say.
They also fault the air traffic controllers at Teterboro airport, where the plane took off, en route to Ocean City, N.J. At the time of the crash, two of the five authorized controllers were on break and one was on a personal phone call, while the supervisor had left the building without saying where he was going, according to the complaint.
Three of the cases, captioned Gallazzi v. Liberty Helicopters, Inc., 09-cv-6142, 09-cv-6144, and 09-cv-6146, were filed on by Ginevra Gallazzi as administrator ad prosequendum for the estates of Fabio Gallazzi, 49, his wife Tiziana Pedroni, 44. and their son Giacomo Gallazzi, 15.
The other two, Norelli v. Liberty Helicopters, Inc., 09-cv-6143 and 09-cv-6145, were filed by Silvia Norelli, for the estates of her husband Michele Norelli, 51, and her son Filippo Norelli, 16.
All five cases, filed Dec. 4, assert diversity jurisdiction and are assigned to District Judge Dennis Cavanaugh and Magistrate Judge Claire Cecchi.
The estates are represented by Motley Rice, in Mount Pleasant, S.C., with Robert Basil, of New York'sCollier & Basil acting as local counsel. Mary Schiavo of Motley Rice declines comment.
Other suits stemming from the crash have been lodged.
In September, Liberty Helicopters, Meridian Consulting and their carriers filed a subrogation action against pilot Altman's estate and plane owner LCA in Bergen County Superior Court, U.S. Aviation Underwriters v. Altman, L-8059-09.
Franklin Bass, who represents the estate, says he answered the complaint on Nov. 30 and he too has filed a notice of claim against the FAA and plans to implead the air traffic controllers unless the court stays the action. Bass, of Locke Lord Bissell & Liddell in New York, expects that once the FAA is brought in, it will remove the case to federal court.
He will also defend the estate in the five wrongful death actions.
Altman's widow, Pamela, has sued Liberty Helicopters, Meridian Consulting and their insurers in Pennsylvania's Court of Common Pleas in Pennsylvania. She alleges that the helicopter companies were at fault for the accident and the insurers conspired to avoid paying out $50 million in coverage under the policies by filing the Bergen County suit, described as a fraudulent claim filed in the wrong court -- one where the FAA and the controllers could not be sued.
Pamela Altman also alleges that the subrogation suit was meant to deter her from asserting her rights. She claims the carriers violated Pennsylvania's insurance and consumer protection laws.
She also filed a federal complaint against the same defendants in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. That suit, Altman v. Liberty Helicopters, 09-cv-4437, also names a Teterboro air traffic controller and supervisor as defendants and asserts product liability claims against the helicopter's manufacturer, American Eurocopter, of Texas.
Her lawyer in the Philadelphia actions is Arthur Alan Wolk, of Wolk & Genter in Philadelphia.
Thomas Regan of LeClair Ryan in Newark, who represents Liberty Helicopters and Meridian Consulting, could not be reached for comment.
An investigation into the cause of the crash by the National Transportation Safety Board is still underway and Bridget Serchak, a spokesperson, estimates it takes nine to 12 months for an NTSB to report on the facts of an accident.
A preliminary report issued Sept. 8 says the Teterboro air traffic controller instructed the plane's pilot, Altman, to contact controllers at Newark airport but there was no indication he did so.
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