By Lexi Solomon
The Herald-Sun
DURHAM, N.C. 鈥� Seven years after a Duke Life Flight helicopter crashed in eastern North Carolina, killing all four people on board, a lawsuit filed by two of the victims鈥� families has been settled for tens of millions of dollars.
Flight nurses Kristopher Harrison, 44, and Crystal Sollinger, 47; pilot Jeff Burke, 51; and patient Mary Bartlett, 70, died in the Sept. 8, 2017, accident, The News & Observer previously reported.
Harrison and Bartlett鈥檚 families sued Burke鈥檚 estate; Air Methods, the operator of the Life Flight program; Airbus Helicopters, which sold the helicopter; and Safran Helicopter Engines USA, which manufactured its engines, three months later, claiming their loved ones were wrongfully killed.
Their suits were dismissed Wednesday in exchange for a $30 million combined payment from Air Methods, Airbus and Safran, according to a news release from the plaintiffs鈥� attorneys. The three companies will pay a total of $21 million to Harrison鈥檚 family and $9 million to Barlett鈥檚 family, the release said.
The National Transportation Safety Board investigated the crash and found Burke likely improperly shut off one of the helicopter鈥檚 two engines moments before the other engine seized up, The N&O reported. That engine鈥檚 failure was caused by an oil clogging problem that Airbus and Safran were aware of months before the crash after a similar incident in South Dakota, according to attorney Brittany Sanders Robb.
Robb was one of four lawyers representing the Harrison and Bartlett families. The Kansas City, Missouri-based aviation attorney represented Vanessa Bryant in the wrongful death suit tied to the deaths of her husband, Kobe Bryant, and daughter Gianna in a helicopter crash.
What happened
Burke, Sollinger and Harrison had flown to Elizabeth City from the Duke Life Flight program鈥檚 base at Johnston County Regional Airport to pick up Bartlett, The N&O previously reported. Bartlett was to be transferred from Sentara Albemarle Medical Center to Duke for complications from surgeries for pancreatic cancer.
Bartlett鈥檚 husband of 47 years had asked to join her on the flight, but there wasn鈥檛 room, The N&O reported. He was supposed to meet her at the hospital.
It was shortly after 11 a.m. when the helicopter crashed in a ditch between two fields in Belvidere, roughly 12 miles from Elizabeth City. Everyone on board was killed in the fiery crash. A flight data recorder on board had no usable information because its battery had apparently expired, the NTSB said.
Because of that, investigators were forced to infer what occurred from looking at the flight鈥檚 wreckage, including its engines and cockpit switches.
And what those engines showed 鈥� a problem known as 鈥渃oking鈥� 鈥� is what led to Wednesday鈥檚 settlement, according to Robb.
鈥淚t鈥檚 essentially when there鈥檚 a build-up of carbon-like deposits, I would describe it as, from the fuel or oil, and it then gets on those internal engine components,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t forms a residue that essentially obstructs the flow, and so the oil, the fuel, is no longer able to get to the engine and it ultimately leads to engine failure, which is what happened here.鈥�
Airbus and Safran were aware of the issue because a similar, non-fatal crash in South Dakota had occurred just six months earlier, Robb said. A helicopter manufactured by Airbus鈥� German arm had to make an emergency landing Jan. 26, 2017, while trying to pick up a patient for an air ambulance operation, according to the NTSB report.
No one was injured in the incident, but examinations showed significant coking in both of the helicopter鈥檚 engines. The investigation led to new maintenance protocol created by Airbus and shared with Safran, according to Airbus鈥� report in the investigation.
But that maintenance protocol wasn鈥檛 followed by Air Methods and neither manufacturer warned its clients of the issue, Robb said.
鈥淗ad they been doing proper maintenance procedures, and had they also had the warning from the manufacturers to be doing those proper maintenance procedures, [this] never would have happened,鈥� she said. 鈥淪o unfortunately, the signs of this happening are ones that maintenance personnel would see, and they clearly failed to do that here.鈥�
Robb said she could not speak to Burke鈥檚 actions before the crash because her team focused on the coking problem.
Sollinger鈥檚 family was not a party in the suit.
Why did the families get different amounts?
Bartlett鈥檚 family received less than Harrison鈥檚 as a result of standard settlement procedures, Robb said.
鈥淭he numbers typically reflect the age, earning capacity and the age of the heirs [of victims],鈥� she said.
Harrison left behind two minor daughters and 鈥渉ad many years of earning potential left,鈥� whereas Bartlett was a retiree with three adult children, according to Robb.
Harrison graduated from N.C. State University in 1995 with a degree in zoology and met his future wife at Wake Tech鈥檚 nursing school, The N&O previously reported. The couple married in June 1999, according to The Goldsboro News-Argus.
Bartlett was a former nurse survived by her husband, two daughters, a son and six grandchildren, her obituary states.
Both families want the public to know the crash could have been prevented, Robb told The N&O.
鈥淭heir loved ones would still be here had these manufacturers and [this] operator done what they were supposed to do,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t is another reason why we refused to agree to a confidential settlement, because they want to be able to speak out about this and hopefully prevent it from happening in the future.鈥�
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