from The Canadian Press today (Telegram online)
"The families of passengers who died in the crash of a Sikorsky helicopter off the coast of Newfoundland last year, as well as the sole survivor of the tragedy, have reached a settlement in their lawsuit against the U.S. company.
The families of 15 passengers and the survivor launched a lawsuit last year in the Philadelphia court of common pleas, alleging that Sikorsky, Keystone Helicopters and their parent company, United Technologies Corp., made false claims about the aircraft’s safety.
Paul Jackson, a spokesman for Sikorsky, said in an email Tuesday that the lawsuit has been settled but details are confidential.
The plaintiffs said in documents filed with the court last July that they had “voluntarily discontinued” their lawsuit to begin negotiations on a possible settlement.
Jackson said a settlement with the families of the helicopter’s two pilots has also been reached.
“All of the claims in regard to the Cougar Flight 491 crew and passengers have been resolved,” Jackson said in the email. “The settlement agreements are private and confidential, so I must decline to provide any details.”
The Cougar Helicopters flight was carrying 16 passengers and two crew members when it crashed in the North Atlantic on March 12 as it was ferrying workers to two offshore oil platforms.
In the lawsuit, the plaintiffs alleged the U.S. firms hadn’t correctly indicated how long a helicopter could safely fly if oil leaked out of its gearbox.
In mid-June, the federal Transportation Safety Board released an update into its probe of the crash and found that while the main rotor blades continued to rotate when the chopper crashed, the tail rotor drive gears were severely damaged.
Investigators said the pilots of the Sikorsky S-92A lost control in the flight’s final moments because of the tail rotor failure.
The issue of the aircraft’s ability to operate without lubricating oil for the gearbox was a key allegation in the 113-page statement of complaint filed in the court in Philadelphia.
The plaintiffs argued the pilots believed the aircraft met U.S. Federal Aviation Administration regulations that certified the aircraft could operate for 30 minutes after losing oil.
They alleged the pilots kept flying the aircraft towards land on that basis, rather than rapidly landing it on the water."