Settlement reached in helicopter crash suit

Posted on Jun 01, 2010

A settlement was reached in the wrongful death lawsuit filed on behalf of the children of a woman killed in a helicopter crash. Bell Helicopter Textron, the manufacturer of the motorblade on the helicopter, has agreed to pay $5.6 million in damages.

Sandra Pearson, 38, was killed in a medical helicopter crash outside of Indianapolis in August 2008. Pearson, a flight nurse, and two others died in the crash said to be caused by a flawed main rotor blade. The blade broke off shortly after take-off, according to the lawsuit.

Pearson's family filed the suit on behalf of her two young children, Gabrielle, 8, and Garrett, 10. The settlement money will be placed in trust accounts until the children turn 18.