PHOENIX (AP) — A lawsuit filed by family of a helicopter pilot killed along with four others in a crash north of Phoenix says the chopper went down because a rotor blade came apart in midair.
Attorney Gary C. Robb of Kansas City, Mo., says the rotor blade on the Eurocopter EC135 piloted by 63-year-old Rick Morton of Seattle had been repeatedly repaired prior to the February 14 crash.
The suit filed on behalf of Morton’s wife and adult daughter names the mechanic who did the repairs, the helicopter former owner and Eurocopter.
An official cause for the crash hasn’t been determined by federal investigators.
Morton was piloting the personal aircraft of executive Thomas J. Stewart, owner of Scottsdale, Ariz.-based Services Group of America. Stewart, his wife, young daughter and brother-in-law were also killed.
