KOMO Helicopter Crash Near Seattle Space Needle Yields $40 Million Settlement

On the morning of March 18, 2014, Richard Newman and Guillermo Sanchez were each stopped at a red light on Broad Street near Seattle's Space Needle, heading to work. The KOMO-TV news helicopter had just lifted off from the station's rooftop helipad when it lost hydraulic boost to its tail rotor controls, followed almost immediately by loss of control of the main rotor. The aircraft plunged onto the street below, crushing the two men's vehicles and erupting in a series of explosions. Pilot Gary Pfitzner and photojournalist Bill Strothman were killed. Newman and Sanchez survived, but both sustained blast injuries, traumatic brain injuries, severe burns, and post-traumatic stress disorder that required ongoing medical treatment.

The National Transportation Safety Board later determined the probable cause was hydraulic failure at takeoff. Trial evidence went further. Testimony and records produced during the five-week King County Superior Court proceeding showed that KOMO's parent company, Sinclair Broadcast Group, and its contracted operator, Helicopters, Inc., had long-standing safety concerns about the rooftop helipad that neither company had addressed. Documentation also revealed that Helicopters, Inc. could not demonstrate that updated safety checklists incorporating manufacturer-recommended changes had ever been put into use.

David Beninger of Luvera Law Firm represented Richard Newman. Co-counsel Patricia Anderson also worked on the case. Guillermo Sanchez was represented separately by Alisa Brodkowitz of Friedman Rubin. Beninger described the evidence as showing 'the wrong pilot in the wrong place with the wrong aircraft.'

On May 21, 2018, with trial underway, the insurance carrier for Helicopters, Inc. (USAIG) agreed to a $40 million settlement covering both plaintiffs. Neither KOMO nor Helicopters, Inc. admitted wrongdoing under the settlement terms. The case was dismissed with prejudice.