I wonder if the canpoy design issues highlighted by the report were altered at all with the D...my guess is no as the cockpit area remained largely unchanged.
Helicopter maker accused of hiding report on crash
MICHAEL KUNZELMAN, Associated Press
Updated 08:42 a.m., Tuesday, August 30, 2011
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The owner of a helicopter that crashed in Louisiana in 2009, killing eight people, is asking a federal court to sanction the aircraft's manufacturer for allegedly hiding a damning internal report to conceal its liability.
In a court filing last Friday, PHI Inc. claims Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. withheld a report by one of its lead engineers because his analysis concluded Sikorsky's faulty design caused its helicopter to crash near Morgan City.
PHI is seeking court-ordered monetary sanctions against Sikorsky, which faces a federal trial in November for a batch of consolidated lawsuits filed by relatives of crash victims.
PHI says it wouldn't have paid as much last year to settle plaintiffs' claims if it had seen Wonsub Kim's report beforehand.
"Sikorsky hid the existence of Dr. Kim's analysis because it was not helpful to Sikorsky. In fact, Dr. Kim's analysis undermines Sikorsky's entire defense," PHI attorneys wrote.
Sikorsky spokesman Paul Jackson said in an email that the company "strongly" denies PHI's allegation and is prepared to "defend against it strenuously." Jackson wouldn't comment beyond that statement.
Investigators concluded a bird struck the Sikorsky S-76 before it crashed about 100 miles southwest of New Orleans on Jan. 4, 2009, killing both pilots and six passengers and injuring a lone survivor. The helicopter had been carrying workers to a Shell Oil Co. platform in the Gulf of Mexico.
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.
PHI says Sikorsky has claimed PHI was responsible for the crash because it replaced the helicopter's original glass windshield with a plastic one that allowed the bird to penetrate the windshield and disable its throttle controls.
PHI, however, says Kim's November 2009 report shows Sikorsky's faulty design of the helicopter's canopy and throttle quadrant caused the crash. Kim concluded the windshield doesn't fail when a bird strikes a Sikorsky S-76 exactly where it did in this case, PHI says.
"Instead, the bird strikes causes the canopy to fail 'substantially,' which causes the throttles to disengage, turning off the engines, and leading to the crash just seventeen seconds later," PHI lawyers wrote.
PHI claims Sikorsky intentionally kept Kim and his analysis hidden before it turned over his report on March 14, 2011. A plaintiffs' attorney, Paul Sterbcow, said they learned of the report's existence while questioning a witness in February 2011.
"There is no question that PHI and the plaintiffs were entitled to Dr. Kim's report and the related information when they first sent discovery requests to Sikorsky in 2009," PHI attorneys wrote.
To support its allegations, PHI cited an email exchange between Sikorsky official Phillip Potts, Kim and his boss, Michael Urban, in late 2009. In his email, according to PHI, Potts said the analysis wasn't complete even though Kim had signed his final report.
"Your stated conclusion related to the windscreen cracking is wrong!" Potts wrote.
"I strongly disagree with the reviewer's comments," Urban replied. "The statement that the results are wrong implies that a given result is known or desired. I cannot directly alter the results only the inputs and (accept) the outcome."
PHI is seeking a court order requiring Sikorsky to reimburse PHI for 80 percent of its settlement payments to plaintiffs. The amount of the settlement payments is confidential.
PHI has settled with Floresville, Texas, resident 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.
Sterbcow, Yelton's attorney, said plaintiffs' attorneys also are seeking court-ordered monetary sanctions against Sikorsky. Sterbcow said they spent hundreds of thousands of dollars for expert analysis they wouldn't have needed if they had seen Kim's report sooner.
Aeronautical Accessories Inc., which made the helicopter's windshield, also has settled plaintiffs' claims.
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.