MEDFORD, Ore. — The families of seven wildland firefighters poured out their grief, loss and anger at a helicopter executive who has admitted falsifying performance specifications for a helicopter that crashed, killing the firefighters and two pilots.
The emotional outpouring took place Monday in a crowded federal courtroom in Medford, Ore., where Carson Helicopters executive Steven Metheny is being sentenced on fraud and other charges in the deadliest helicopter crash involving working firefighters in U.S. history. The August 2008 crash near Weaverville, Calif., came as a crew from Oregon was being pulled out of rugged country where they had been fighting the Iron 44 fire.
Metheny’s defense lawyer is seeking three years of probation, arguing the falsification of the helicopter’s weight was not a factor in the crash, but rather a mechanical failure. Prosecutors are seeking 15 years in prison, arguing that the false weight was critical information the pilots needed to fly safely.
