Copilot Burned in Fatal Wildfire Helicopter Crash Wins Verdict Against Engine Maker
After trial: General Electric said after the March 2012 verdict that it would appeal, arguing the result contradicted the National Transportation Safety Board's finding that the helicopter was overloaded. A Massachusetts Superior Court opinion in the families' suit against their workers' compensation insurer, Coultas v. Liberty Mutual Fire Insurance Co. (Aug. 15, 2013), records that the $42,000,000 award to Mr. and Mrs. Coultas had been reduced to a $23,940,000 judgment, that the estate's award had been reduced to $1,329,350, and that the judgment was on appeal. A federal opinion in the related Oregon case, Coultas v. Liberty Mutual Fire Insurance Co., No. 3:15-cv-00237-PK (D. Or. May 9, 2016), states that the plaintiffs ultimately settled with all of the defendants in their state court lawsuits and recovered approximately $30,000,000 in settlement payments in total, a figure covering both families and three additional parties. No public record shows how much of that was paid on the General Electric judgment, or how the appeal itself was disposed of, so this result is ranked at the judgment that was entered and collectability is left as not public.
Won by AndersonGlenn LLP.
William Coultas, the copilot who survived a 2008 helicopter crash that killed nine people on the Iron Complex fire in Northern California, sued General Electric over the engine's fuel control unit after suffering severe burns. A Multnomah County jury in Portland found GE 57 percent at fault on March 27, 2012 and awarded $42,000,000 to Coultas and his wife as part of a $70,455,000 verdict that also compensated the pilot's estate. Because Oregon makes defendants severally liable for their own share of fault, the couple's judgment was entered at $23,940,000. GE said it would appeal, and court records show the judgment was still on appeal in August 2013. A later federal opinion states the plaintiffs ultimately settled with all of the defendants.
What happened
On August 5, 2008, a Sikorsky S-61N helicopter working under contract to the U.S. Forest Service lost power seconds after lifting off from Helispot 44 on the Iron Complex fire in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest near Weaverville, California. The aircraft was carrying a crew of wildland firefighters off the mountain along with its two pilots and a Forest Service inspector pilot. It hit trees and terrain on the initial climb. Nine people died, among them pilot Roark Schwanenberg and the Forest Service inspector pilot. Copilot William Coultas lived, with burns he was still recovering from years later.
The National Transportation Safety Board concluded the helicopter had been overloaded, relying on weight and performance figures that operator Carson Helicopters had supplied to the Forest Service. Coultas rejected that finding publicly. He and his wife, along with Schwanenberg's widow and estate, sued engine maker General Electric, arguing the real cause was a contaminated fuel control unit that starved the No. 2 engine on takeoff. At trial their counsel argued GE had known for at least six years that the fuel control valve's filter let particles through and had treated the problem as a service issue rather than fixing the design.
The families' own suit was filed in Oregon state court on February 24, 2010 by AndersonGlenn, the firm of Gregory A. Anderson and John J. Glenn, which a later federal opinion names as the lawyers acting for Coultas and Schwanenberg. A removal of that case to the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon was closed out in June 2010, and the case was tried in Multnomah County Circuit Court in Portland. Carson Helicopters was dismissed before the verdict and Sikorsky settled with the plaintiffs, leaving GE as the defendant the jury decided against.
On March 27, 2012 the jury rejected GE's overweight defense and found that an engine failure caused the crash. It awarded $42,000,000 to Mr. and Mrs. Coultas and $28,455,000 to Schwanenberg's estate, a verdict of $70,455,000 in total. News accounts at the time broke the couple's share down as roughly $37 million to him and $4.3 million to her. Jurors put 57 percent of the fault on General Electric, 23 percent on Carson Helicopters and 20 percent on Sikorsky. A GE Aviation spokesman said the company would appeal, calling the verdict a contradiction of the NTSB's findings.
Neither Carson nor Sikorsky was on the hook for its share by then, and Oregon makes a defendant severally liable for its own percentage of fault. The judgment entered for Mr. and Mrs. Coultas came to $23,940,000, which is 57 percent of their award. The estate's judgment was cut much further, to $1,329,350. A Massachusetts Superior Court opinion in the families' separate fight with their workers' compensation insurer recites both reduced figures and states that as of August 2013 the judgment was on appeal. A federal opinion out of Oregon in that same dispute, issued in May 2016, says the plaintiffs went on to settle with all of the defendants in their state court cases, and with three other potentially responsible parties, recovering about $30,000,000 in settlement payments in total across both families.
Sources
This account is drawn from contemporaneous public reporting and the court record.
- 1.U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon, Coultas v. Liberty Mutual Fire Insurance Co., No. 3:15-cv-00237-PK, opinion and order of Magistrate Judge Paul Papak, May 18, 2015 (govinfo): states that on February 24, 2010 AndersonGlenn went forward with litigation in Oregon state court on behalf of plaintiffs Coultas and Schwanenberg, and that the plaintiffs were awarded $70,455,000 by a jury on March 27, 2012
- 2.U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon, same case, opinion and order of May 9, 2016 (govinfo): states that the plaintiffs continued to prosecute their Oregon state court lawsuits and ultimately settled with all of the defendants, that they also settled with three other potentially responsible parties, and that they recovered approximately $30,000,000 in settlement payments in total
- 3.U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon, same case, opinion and order of October 8, 2015 (govinfo): states the plaintiffs tried their case in Multnomah County Circuit Court and obtained a $70,455,000 jury verdict
- 4.CourtListener federal docket, Coultas v. Columbia Helicopters Inc. et al, D. Or. No. 3:10-cv-00384 (removal filed April 8, 2010, terminated June 29, 2010): lists Gregory A. Anderson and John J. Glenn of Anderson Glenn LLC as attorneys for plaintiffs William Henry Coultas and Christine Coultas
- 5.Massachusetts Superior Court, Coultas v. Liberty Mutual Fire Insurance Co., August 15, 2013 (Leibensperger, J.): recites that the March 27, 2012 jury awards of $42 million to Mr. and Mrs. Coultas and $28,455,000 to the Schwanenberg estate were reduced to $23,940,000 and $1,329,350 respectively, and that the judgment was on appeal
- 6.KATU, Portland, carrying the Associated Press report on the March 27, 2012 verdict: quotes plaintiffs' attorney Greg Anderson, gives the per-plaintiff amounts, the 57/23/20 fault split, the dismissal of Carson Helicopters and Sikorsky's earlier settlement, and GE Aviation's statement that it would appeal
- 7.Wildfire Today, March 27, 2012 (Bill Gabbert, citing the Oregonian): breaks down the jury verdict and the fault split and quotes Anderson as the plaintiffs' attorney
- 8.Wildfire Today: reports that Coultas disputed the NTSB's overweight finding and was still recovering from severe burns suffered in the crash, and names Gregory A. Anderson as the attorney for the Coultas and Schwanenberg families
- 9.Aviation Law Monitor, March 27, 2012: confirms the trial was held in Portland and that the jury rejected the NTSB's overweight finding in favor of an engine-failure theory
- 10.AndersonGlenn LLP (firm)
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In 2012, a federal jury in Portland found General Electric responsible for a defective helicopter engine component in the 2008 crash that killed veteran firefighting pilot Roark Schwanenberg during the Iron 44 wildfire response. The jury awarded his estate $28,455,000 and put 57 percent of the fault on GE. A related Massachusetts court opinion recites that Oregon's wrongful-death damages cap and the jury's fault allocation cut that award to $1,329,350, and that the reduced judgment was on appeal. Oregon lawmakers later cited this same case while pushing to raise the state's wrongful-death cap.
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