Family of Houston helicopter crash victims sues helicopter and tower operator for $50 million – Houston Public Media

The family of three who died Oct. 20 when a helicopter crashed into a radio tower in Houston's East End filed a $50 million wrongful death lawsuit Friday against the company that operated the plane and the owner of the tower.

The crash occurred around 8 p.m. that evening as Cesar Lerma, Marie Alonso and their son, 9-year-old Dylon Lerma, were leaving Ellington Airport for a nighttime sightseeing tour of downtown Houston. All four people aboard the Robinson R44 helicopter, including pilot Samantha Grandbouche, died when it crashed into the radio tower in Houston's Second Ward that evening.

The lawsuit was filed hours after the National Transportation Safety Board released an initial report on the incident that did not provide any conclusions about the exact cause of the accident.

Before the crash, Grandbouche established communication with air traffic controllers, who a few minutes later issued a traffic alert about another company helicopter flight in the area. According to the report, the pilot recognized that traffic was in sight.

“The air traffic controller requested the accident pilot to maintain visual distance from traffic and the pilot was reading the instructions when the radio transmission abruptly ended,” the report said. “No further communications were received from the accident helicopter.”

The lawsuit filed Friday is against SBA Communications, a company that owns the tower, National Helicopter Solutions, which operates the helicopter, and Porter Equipment Holding, the helicopter's owner.

“We hope to get to the bottom of what caused this helicopter to crash into this communications tower, whether it involved the pilot, the equipment or the tower,” said attorney Randy Sorrels. “There are a lot of unanswered questions that we just want to answer.”

Sorrels said the lawsuit is seeking $50 million “to get the attention of the entire industry.”

“These are very preventable accidents,” he said.

In a news release Friday, attorneys said it was unclear whether the tower was properly lit, whether procedures were in place, whether policies were followed and whether Grandbouche – who is listed as a defendant in the lawsuit – was properly trained.

“Porter Equipment Holding, the owner of the helicopter, was aware that the helicopter was being used for nighttime tours, and it is unclear whether the helicopter had the proper detection equipment,” the release said.

According to the lawsuit, Marie Lerma's niece and Dylon Lerma's four-year-old cousin and best friend were also scheduled to fly, but his cousin developed an illness that prevented them from flying.

“Dylon Maximus Lerma was a bright and imaginative child – well beyond his nine years,” family members said in a statement. “He had a passion for climbing, drawing and creating comics. He was full of love and light like his parents and was fortunate to have two loving co-parents.”

Patricia Ortiz contributed to this report.