$8.15 Million Settlement After Helicopter Bearing Failure Killed Air Ambulance Pilot

On January 28, 2003, Michael Russell, a commercial pilot flying for Air Angels medical air service in the Chicago area, had just refueled his Agusta 109C helicopter on the east side of DuPage Airport and was preparing for an equipment check. Seconds after liftoff, the second of seven tail-rotor bearings failed. The bearing, custom-manufactured by French aerospace company SNFA, fractured the drive shaft spinning at roughly 6,000 RPM, cutting power to the tail rotor. The helicopter spun out of control and slammed into a cornfield about two miles south of the runway. Russell, the sole occupant, died in the crash.

His brother John Russell, as executor of the estate, filed suit against Italian manufacturer Agusta S.p.A., SNFA, helicopter owner Oakbrook Aviation, and former owner Metro Aviation. The core argument was straightforward: Michael Russell had done nothing wrong. The product had failed him.

Before the case could go to trial, SNFA moved to dismiss on jurisdictional grounds, arguing that as a French company with no offices, employees, or property in Illinois, it could not be haled into an Illinois court. The circuit court agreed and dismissed. The estate, represented by Todd Smith and Brian LaCien (then at Power, Rogers & Smith P.C., where the pair practiced before founding Smith LaCien LLP in 2020), appealed. In December 2011 the Illinois Appellate Court reversed, holding that SNFA's custom-designed bearings, delivered for use in Agusta helicopters distributed across the United States, established sufficient minimum contacts with Illinois under the long-arm statute. The Illinois Supreme Court affirmed that ruling in 2013, clearing the path for the case to move forward.

Note on the NTSB finding: the National Transportation Safety Board attributed the probable cause to the pilot's failure to maintain control, a finding the estate contested throughout the litigation. The settlement does not constitute a judicial finding of liability, but the defendants' decision to pay a combined $8.15 million reflected the risk each faced if the case proceeded to trial.

The settlement, finalized in October 2016, broke down as follows: Agusta paid $5 million, SNFA paid $2.75 million, Oakbrook Aviation paid $300,000, and Metro Aviation contributed $105,000. Cook County Circuit Court Judge Deborah M. Dooling presided over the case. Chicago Daily Law Bulletin reported the result as Illinois's highest product-liability settlement on record involving a helicopter.