02-23-2018, 12:49 PM
In September, Troy Gentry died suddenly in a helicopter crash, leaving behind his wife, Angela (Angie) Gentry, and two daughters, Kaylee and Taylor. Now, the late Montgomery Gentry member's widow has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the manufacturers of the aircraft, reports multiple sources including Courthouse News Services and Rolling Stone.
The complaint against the defendants, Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation, Sikorsky Global Helicopters, Inc., and Keystone Helicopter Corporation, dated February 14 read:
"The dangers from the lack of crashworthiness and defects in the engine, transmission and sprag clutch, throttle cables, engine attachments and absence of crashworthy features were unknown to the average user and consumer of this helicopter but well known to these defendants who made it a point to hide and deny and problems that could and did cause serious personal injury and death."
Reports previously attributed the accident to engine problems, but the suit reveals new details: When the throttle jammed, the engine went into high speed, alleges the document. The pilot's attempted to decelerate by autorotation, but, the suit says: "Because of defects in the engine, throttle cable attachment and collective control, the helicopter did not enter autorotation as expected, it did not disengage smartly from the transmission so the engine the rotors slowed to a speed lower than would permit a safe autorotation, thus allowing the helicopter to drop like a stone to the ground below, killing all aboard."
Gentry's family is requesting damages totaling more than $50,000. They
do not hold the pilot, who also died in the accident, accountable, as "There was no procedure in the Pilot Operating Handbook (POH) to deal with this emergency, and no recommendations to afford the pilot any way out of the predicament in which he found himself."
Investigations by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) are ongoing. "We are fully cooperating with the NTSB and cannot comment further due to the investigation," a spokesperson for Sikorsky told Courthouse News Services.
Eddie Montgomery, the remaining half of the Montgomery Gentry duo, recently released the band's new album, Here's to You, and announced the first-ever tour without his musical partner.
http://www.wcvb.com/article/troy-gentry-...t/18660811
The complaint against the defendants, Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation, Sikorsky Global Helicopters, Inc., and Keystone Helicopter Corporation, dated February 14 read:
"The dangers from the lack of crashworthiness and defects in the engine, transmission and sprag clutch, throttle cables, engine attachments and absence of crashworthy features were unknown to the average user and consumer of this helicopter but well known to these defendants who made it a point to hide and deny and problems that could and did cause serious personal injury and death."
Reports previously attributed the accident to engine problems, but the suit reveals new details: When the throttle jammed, the engine went into high speed, alleges the document. The pilot's attempted to decelerate by autorotation, but, the suit says: "Because of defects in the engine, throttle cable attachment and collective control, the helicopter did not enter autorotation as expected, it did not disengage smartly from the transmission so the engine the rotors slowed to a speed lower than would permit a safe autorotation, thus allowing the helicopter to drop like a stone to the ground below, killing all aboard."
Gentry's family is requesting damages totaling more than $50,000. They
do not hold the pilot, who also died in the accident, accountable, as "There was no procedure in the Pilot Operating Handbook (POH) to deal with this emergency, and no recommendations to afford the pilot any way out of the predicament in which he found himself."
Investigations by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) are ongoing. "We are fully cooperating with the NTSB and cannot comment further due to the investigation," a spokesperson for Sikorsky told Courthouse News Services.
Eddie Montgomery, the remaining half of the Montgomery Gentry duo, recently released the band's new album, Here's to You, and announced the first-ever tour without his musical partner.
http://www.wcvb.com/article/troy-gentry-...t/18660811