A lawsuit has been filed against Blue Hawaiian Helicopters following a hard landing on Kauai earlier this year.
On Jan. 17, a Blue Hawaiian tour helicopter experienced a hard landing at Kalalau Beach, near the water’s edge.
The lawsuit, which was filed on behalf of the Hicks family from Austin, Texas, claims that the incident occurred due to negligence on behalf of the company.
According to the lawsuit, the helicopter was about 1,400 feet off the Na Pali coast when a warning light came on.
The pilot tried to put the chopper in auto-rotation, which is supposed to result in a softer landing, but the aircraft ended up coming down hard on Kalalau Beach.
There were six passengers on board, four of whom were related and two were family friends.
Officials previously said five passengers were injured, while the pilot and a sixth passenger were unharmed. The injured passengers were airlifted to Princeville Airport and taken to Wilcox Memorial Hospital.
However, attorney Rick Fried said Tuesday that all of the passengers suffered some sort of injury.
“The most serious injury probably involved Dr. Lindsey Hicks, a board-certified dermatologist and dermatopathologist,” he said. “She ended up having to be airlifted from Hawaii to Craig (Hospital) in Denver where she remained until April. Unfortunately, she remains paraplegic.”
Blue Hawaiian Helicopters has 20 days to respond to the lawsuit.
Gregg Lundberg, president of Blue Hawaiian Helicopters, said in a statement: “Because this incident is now a legal matter and because of the ongoing investigation by the NTSB, I have no comment on the lawsuit.”
