Mother of budding journalist killed in horrific helicopter crash in East River wins record $116 million lawsuit
The mother of a budding journalist who died when his safety harness failed to release after a tragic helicopter crash in the East River in 2018 won a $116 million lawsuit verdict Wednesday, the largest in New York history.
A Manhattan Supreme Court jury awarded the record-breaking award to Nancy Cadigan, the mother of Trevor Cadigan, 26, who drowned along with four other passengers when their helicopter crashed into the East River in March 2018.
Cadigan's parents were originally named as plaintiffs in the lawsuit, but her father, Jerry, a radio journalist, was unable to see the day of reckoning when he died in July at age 72.
Kansas City attorney Gary C. Robb, who represented Cadigan's parents, praised the jury for holding “these companies accountable for their immoral and reckless actions” at the end of the three-month trial.
Wednesday's $116,067,076 award is the largest jury verdict for a single wrongful death in New York history, according to legal research firm VerdictSearch.
The suit alleged that open-door helicopter tours — popular with photography enthusiasts trying to snap a picture of their legs dangling over the city — are far more dangerous than regular closed-door tours because they require a much more restrictive harness and restraint system that is much harder to release than regular helicopter tethers in an emergency.
The sole survivor, helicopter pilot Richard Vance — who was also initially a defendant in Cadigan's lawsuit — survived largely because he was not similarly restrained, officials said at the time.
“Those open-door helicopter tour operators put Trevor in a death trap, and they knew it. They were fully aware for months that passengers would have no chance of escaping from their makeshift harness and tether system in the event of an emergency water landing,” Robb said.
FLYNYON, the charter company Cadigan was flying with at the time of his death, still offers open door toursbut now with harnesses that are easier to remove in an emergency, a mandate issued by the FAA in the wake of the accident.
According to the verdict, jurors found that both FLYON and Liberty Helicopter, the helicopter's owner, were almost equally at fault. A third defendant, aerospace parts manufacturer Dart, was also found liable for a faulty inflation device that failed to activate when the helicopter hit the water. The helicopter's manufacturer, Airbus, was found not at fault.
Cadigan's best friend, Dallas firefighter Brian McDaniel, 26, also drowned in the horrific accident. His family settled their own similar lawsuit in 2022.
The legal team representing FLYON and Liberty Helicopter did not respond to a request for comment. An attorney representing Dart also did not respond in time for publication.
