HELICOPTER MAKER SETTLES 8-YEAR-OLD SUIT BY WIDOWS MECHANICAL FAILURE BLAMED FOR FIREFIGHTERS' CRASH, DEATHS.

Byline: JASON KANDEL Staff Writer

A wrongful death case filed by the widows of three Los Angeles firefighters who died in a 1998 helicopter crash that also killed a Sun Valley girl was settled Tuesday after eight years in litigation.

Details of the agreement between the widows and Bell Helicopter were not released and will remain confidential.

``We have agreed with the defense that there would be no comment on the resolution,'' said Ron Goldman, an attorney representing the three widows. Stephen Brunk, an attorney for Bell, did not return a call seeking comment.

The lawsuit was filed in 1999 by Maria Butler, Lisa Reiner and Lorene McComb, the widows of Michael Butler, 33, of Santa Clarita; Eric Reiner, 33, of Carson; and Michael McComb, 48, of Crestline, respectively.

The firefighters died March 23, 1998, in Griffith Park when the 20-year-old Bell helicopter they were in lost its tail rotor and crashed. Also killed was Norma Vides, 11, of Sun Valley, a car crash victim who was being airlifted to Childrens Hospital Los Angeles.

Steven Robinson, 32, of Agoura, the pilot, and firefighter Dennis J. Silgen, 52, of Thousand Oaks, suffered serious injuries and were hospitalized after the crash.

After the tail rotor fell off, Robinson managed to keep the helicopter airborne for about a half-mile. He steered the craft -- shearing trees -- clear of homes on Fern Dell Drive before crashing.

The lawsuit alleged that the tail rotor yoke and assembly were defective and that the defects caused parts to fatigue. The rotor helps control a helicopter's lateral motion.

The case was tied up in litigation for years, partly because of an initial judge's ruling that upheld a federal law that prohibits such suits against manufacturers of helicopters over 18 years old, Goldman said.

In 2003, that decision was reversed by a state appellate court that said the rule does not apply to this case because Bell had failed to disclose to the Federal Aviation Administration five prior military helicopter crashes that had the same design yoke and fatigue fracture.

That decision sent the case back for a retrial, which occurred over the last 11 days.

jason.kandel(at)dailynews.com

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