Relatives of Houston Helicopter Crash Victims File Wrongful Death Lawsuit

Ryan J. Farrick — November 3, 2024

A helicopter taking off. Image via Pxfuel, listed as public domain.

“Porter Equipment Holding, the owner of the helicopter, knew that the helicopter was being used for nighttime tours, and it is unclear if it had the proper detection equipment on the helicopter,” attorneys for the families said.

The families of three people who died after a tour helicopter collided with a radio tower in Houston, Texas, have filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the aircraft’s owner and operator.

According to Houston Public Media, the collision occurred around 8p.m. on the night of October 20. The pilot, along with the three passengers, were all found dead. The passengers have since been identified as Julio “Cesar” Lerma, Marie Alonso, and their 9-year-old son, Dylon Lerma.

The National Transportation Safety Board has released an initial report, but has yet to publicly release a determination as to the crash’s cause. However, shortly before the collision, pilot Samantha Grandbouche contacted air traffic control to report the presence of another helicopter tour in the area.

Both Grandbouche and the other pilot acknowledged each other’s presence.

“The controller requested the accident pilot to maintain visual separation from the traffic, and the pilot was reading the instructions when the radio transmission abruptly ended,” the National Transportation Safety Board’s report says. “No further communications from the accident helicopter were received.”

Houston, Texas; image courtesy of skeeze via pixabay, www.pixabay.com

The lawsuit names defendants including the helicopter’s operator, National Helicopter Solutions, and the radio tower’s owner, SBA Communications.

“We hope to get down to the root cause of what caused this helicopter to crash into this communication tower, whether that involved the pilot, the equipment, the tower,” attorney Randy Sorrels told Houston Public Media. “There’s a lot of unanswered questions that we just want to get answered.”

Sorrels said that his clients are seeking at least $50 million in damages.

“These are very preventable crashes,” said Sorrels, who said that the lawsuit is also “trying to get the attention of the entire industry.”

The complaint notes that the helicopter’s legal owner—Porter Equipment Holding—knew, and had allowed, National Helicopter Solutions to use its aircraft for nighttime tours but may have failed to install proper detection systems.

“Porter Equipment Holding, the owner of the helicopter, knew that the helicopter was being used for nighttime tours, and it is unclear if it had the proper detection equipment on the helicopter,” attorneys for the families said.

Sorrels suggested that the lawsuit will help the victims’ relatives understand what caused the crash.

“I think we need to go and try to find answers to questions that are still yet unanswered by the [National Transportation Safety Board’s] preliminary report,” Sorrels said in a statement to KHOU-11. “We need to determine maintenance history, we need to determine policies, we need to determine procedures of the sightseeing company.”