The family of a meteorologist who was killed last fall in a helicopter crash in North Carolina is suing a maintenance facility and the companies that owned and operated the aircraft.
The lawsuit was filed the same week in which another copter crash injured three people in western North Carolina, about 150 miles west of Charlotte.
The weatherman’s family’s complaint, filed this week in Mecklenburg County Court in Charlotte, alleges negligence and claims the helicopter was running on contaminated fuel, which can lead to engine failure. The lawsuit alleges the pilot didn’t perform flight inspections and emergency engine failure procedures adequately. It argues the company that owned the aircraft is liable for those mistakes.
Meteorologist Jason Myers and pilot Chip Tayag died in November after the Robinson R44 helicopter crashed along a Charlotte-area interstate. Police praised the pilot for saving lives of drivers by avoiding the roadway.
Meyers worked for Charlotte-area news channel WBTV and Tayag worked for the Total Traffic and Weather Network, which is owned by parent company iHeartMedia, the lawsuit states.
Myers’ wife, Jillian Ann Myers, is suing maintenance facility Wilson Air Center- North Carolina, the Total Traffic and Weather Network and iHeartMedia.
Vince Papke, general manager for the air center in North Carolina, declined to comment. iHeartMedia did not respond to an email seeking comment.
The lawsuit “is about seeking answers as to what caused the helicopter crash and to hold the responsible parties fully accountable for Jason’s death,” said Gary Robb, Jillian Myers’ attorney, in a statement.
Robb represented Vanessa Bryant, the widow of basketball star Kobe Bryant, in her wrongful death lawsuit against the pilot and owners of the helicopter that crashed in 2020, killing the NBA star and eight others. It was settled last year under confidential terms.
Myers, the meteorologist, was raised in North Carolina’s Union and Catawba counties and worked in the city of Raleigh, and in Texas and Virginia before returning to the Charlotte area where he grew up, WBTV said in November. He was survived by his wife and four children.
The family is seeking compensatory damages, including his net income, in excess of $25,000 as well as punitive damages.
Tayag had been a pilot for more than 20 years, the station said. According to witness reports, Tayag prevented the helicopter from crashing onto Interstate-77 during a busy week of holiday travel.
“The pilot is a hero in my eyes,” said Johnny Jennings, chief of the Charlotte- Mecklenburg Police Department, in a statement on the day of the crash.
Meanwhile, in Macon County, North Carolina, a patient and three crew members survived when a medical transport helicopter crashed Thursday evening. Macon County 911 Communications Supervisor Todd Seagle said the helicopter went down moments after it declared an emergency around 7 p.m., WLOS-TV reported.
Macon County Sheriff Brent Holbrooks said the EC-135 helicopter was traveling to Mission Hospital in Asheville, North Carolina, when it crashed in Macon County. Holbrooks confirmed all four people on the flight were alive, WLOS reported.
The aircraft was transporting a patient from a medical facility in Murphy, North Carolina. Three people involved in the crash were transported by ambulance to Mission Hospital with minor to moderate injuries and one patient was transported to Angel Medical Center for evaluation, Macon County Emergency Services Director Warren Cabe said.
The aircraft sustained severe damage. Investigators were examining the wreckage to determine the cause of the crash, Cabe said.
Erlanger Health System in Tennessee, which operates LIFE FORCE medical transport helicopters, confirmed the crash of LIFE FORCE 6. The company’s website said the helicopter operates out of Cherokee County, North Carolina, with a base radius of 150 miles (241 km).
This was the first crash in the 34-year history of the LIFE FORCE program, Erlanger Health System said.
For copyright information, check with the distributor of this item, WLOS-TV.
Photo: The site of the November crash in Charlotte. (Alex Slitz/The Charlotte Observer via AP, File)
Topics Lawsuits North Carolina
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