Robinson R-44 Fuel Tank Defect Kills Three in Texas Crash; Settlement Forces Nationwide Retrofit

On April 13, 2006, a Robinson R-44 helicopter departed from the Fredericksburg area on what should have been a routine flight. The aircraft struck a power line at low altitude, a collision survivable by design standards, but what followed was not survivable. The rigid aluminum fuel tank ruptured on impact, fuel flooded the cabin, and the helicopter erupted in fire. Craig Nemec, the pilot, suffered catastrophic burns. One passenger died from thermal injuries at the scene, and a second passenger died a day later after being airlifted to a burn unit. Nemec, who suffered burns over more than half his body, died about fifteen months later from complications tied to those injuries.

The R-44's fuel tank had a known vulnerability. In a rollover or low-energy impact, the transmission could puncture the tank, spraying fuel into the cockpit. Rather than address the design, Robinson had issued Safety Notice SN-40 in 2006 advising occupants to wear fire-retardant Nomex suits as protection against post-crash fires. Attorney Michael Slack, retained by Craig Nemec's widow Ellen, reviewed the engineering and concluded the notice was inadequate and the defect was correctable.

Slack and his team built a product-liability case centered on the argument that the crash imposed only light, survivable forces on the airframe, and that the deaths resulted not from the impact itself but from the fuel system failing in conditions it was expected to withstand. Discovery examined Robinson's internal records on prior incidents and the company's decision-making on fuel system design.

Before trial, the parties reached a confidential monetary settlement in 2009. The financial terms were not disclosed. But Ellen Nemec and her attorneys pushed for more than money. Slack told Robinson's principal directly that the firm required a structural fix: 'Frank, the money's not going to do it this time. We need to eliminate the fire problem.' Robinson agreed to immediately establish a production line to retrofit existing helicopters with bladder-type fuel tanks and flexible fuel lines, the same design that would become standard on all new R-44 production models beginning in December 2009. The settlement also gave the plaintiffs' counsel the right of unannounced inspection for two years to monitor Robinson's compliance with the retrofit program.

The NTSB subsequently examined seven R-44 accidents involving the older aluminum tanks and concluded that post-crash fires had turned survivable incidents into fatal ones. In a January 2014 safety recommendation, the board called on the FAA to mandate the bladder-tank retrofit across the entire remaining fleet. Robinson's own Service Bulletin SB-78, issued in December 2010, credited the new design with eliminating post-impact fires on retrofitted aircraft.