Cougar Helicopters and Lloyd”™s of London reportedly have sued Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. for $27 million, claiming the company”™s “reckless behavior and willful misconduct” was responsible for a March 2009 crash of a Sikorsky S-92 helicopter off Newfoundland that killed 17 people.
A British Columbia-based subsidiary of VIH Aviation Group, Cougar and eight insurance companies led by Lloyd”™s sued Stratford-based Sikorsky in the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador, according to the Globe and Mail. The lawsuit comes months after Sikorsky settled lawsuits brought by families of victims and by the flight”™s lone survivor.
The plaintiffs”™ claims revolve around failed studs securing the helicopter”™s oil assembly to the main gearbox, and purported claims by Sikorsky that the helicopter could run 30 minutes without oil in that mechanism. The helicopter crashed 11 minutes after the pilots reported a loss of oil pressure.
“By promoting and advertising the S-92 as having a ”˜30-minute run-dry”™ capacity, Sikorsky fraudulently misrepresented to buyers and operators the airworthiness and flight safety of the S-92,” plaintiffs stated, as quoted by the Globe and Mail. “Such false pretense was made solely for the purpose of earning sales revenue.”
Sikorsky has yet to file a statement in court responding to the allegations, and declined comment to the newspaper. The Globe and Mail reported that the company is attempting to have the case litigated in the U.S. Codefendants include Helicopter Support Inc., Sikorsky”™s spare-parts subsidiary based in Trumbull, and Canada”™s minister of transport.
