Kentucky Court Overturns $21M Judgement in Helicopter Crash Case

The Kentucky Court of Appeals has overturned a $21.7 million judgment against a helicopter company regarding a crash that killed three people.

Three people died in June 2013 when an air ambulance crashed as it was returning from a trip to an eastern Kentucky hospital. Pilot Eddy Sizemore, flight paramedic Herman “Lee” Dobbs and flight nurse Jesse Jones were killed.

A federal investigation blamed the crash on pilot error. But eight family members of the victims blamed the crash on a defect in the main rotor blade of the helicopter. A Clay County jury sided with the victims’ families, ordering Bell Helicopter Textron Inc. to pay them $21.7 million.

The Lexington Herald-Leader reports the appeals court overturned that judgment, saying the judge assigned to the case improperly barred some evidence.