Hot off the press.
By MICHAEL KUNZELMAN Oct. 21, 2010, 11:58AMNEW ORLEANS —
The owner of a helicopter that crashed in southeast Louisiana last year, killing eight people, has reached settlement agreements with some of the victims' relatives.
Plaintiffs' attorneys and a lawyer for PHI Inc. said Thursday that confidential terms of the settlements will be filed. The deals are expected to be announced Wednesday during a hearing before U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier, who is presiding over most of the lawsuits in the deadly Jan. 4, 2009, crash.
The attorneys said PHI's agreements are with Steve Yelton, the lone survivor, and with relatives of four of the passengers who died: Andrew Mauricio, of Morgan City, La.; Allen Boudreaux Jr., of Amelia, La.; Jorey A. Rivero, of Bridge City, La.; and Randy Tarpley, of Jonesville, La.
Ross Cunningham, a lawyer for PHI, said the company "felt a moral responsibility to the families of those affected."
"PHI wanted to do what it could to lessen the burden on the families and sought out an opportunity to reach an early settlement with these families," he said in a statement.
Paul Sterbcow, a lawyer for Yelton, said the settlement begins the process of providing long-term security for his client, his wife and two children. Yelton suffered a severe brain injury in the crash and is living in a residential rehabilitation facility in Covington, La., Sterbcow said.
The agreements don't resolve any claims against helicopter manufacturer Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. or Aeronautical Accessories Inc., which made the helicopter's plexiglass windshield.
The helicopter was carrying workers to a Shell Oil Co. platform in the Gulf of Mexico when it crashed near Morgan City, about 100 miles southwest of New Orleans. The crash killed both pilots and six passengers and critically injured Yelton, of Floresville, Texas.
The cause of the crash remains under investigation, but investigators suspect a bird struck the Sikorsky S-76C when it was about 850 feet above ground.
Investigators found the remains of a Red-tailed hawk on the remnants of the pilot's side windshield. They also found bird feathers under a windscreen seal and in an engine. A cockpit voice recorder captured a bang and a loud air noise about 17 seconds before the crash.
The National Transportation Safety Board hasn't released its final report on the crash yet.
"We have more than enough information ... to piece this thing together," Sterbcow said. "I think we pretty much know what happened here."
Thomas Ballenger, of Eufaula, Ala.; and Vyarl Martin, of Hurst, Texas; were the PHI pilots who died. The other passengers killed were Ezequiel Cantu, of Morgan City; and Charles W. Nelson, of Pensacola, Fla