Friday, December 16, 2005
Brooklyn Woman Settles Suit Over Deadly Chopper Crash
A Brooklyn woman, the sole survivor of a Grand Canyon sightseeing air crash that killed six people in 2001, has settled a lawsuit involving the tour company, pilot and helicopter manufacturer.
A lawyer for Chana Daskal, 29, said Thursday that a confidential financial agreement had been reached in the civil lawsuit stemming from the crash near Meadview, Ariz.
"All the Daskal family's claims are settled as to all the parties in this action," lawyer Bernadette Panzella said from Staten Island.
Panzella said sealed documents had been submitted Tuesday in Las Vegas and final paperwork was being prepared. She declined to discuss settlement terms.
Lawyers and officials representing tour company Papillon Grand Canyon Helicopters in Las Vegas; American Eurocopter Corp. and Turbomeca Engine Corp., of Grand Prairie, Texas; Washington-based helicopter retailer Zuni LLC; and the estate of the pilot, who died in the crash, did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment.
Daskal has been slowly rehabilitating from near-fatal injuries she received in the crash Aug. 10, 2001, Panzella said. The mother of two suffered a broken back, burns over 80 percent of her body and had both legs amputated after the helicopter crashed into a cliff during a sightseeing tour to the Grand Canyon.
Daskal's husband, David Daskal, and traveling companions Shayie Lichtenstein, Avi and Barbara Wajsbaum and Aryeh Zvi Fastag, all of Brooklyn, were killed along with the pilot, Kevin Innocenti, 27, of Henderson.
The National Transportation Safety Board blamed pilot error for the crash in a report last year.
The lawsuit, filed in 2003, remained active Thursday. A hearing is scheduled Jan. 12 in Clark County District Court on a dismissal request, and a conference is scheduled March 7 to complete agreements.
Panzella characterized Daskal, the mother of two boys, now 10 and 4, as a fierce survivor who was severely disfigured but who hopes medical advances can help her overcome her injuries.
"This settlement is going to allow her to improve her life and the lives of her children," Panzella said. "We have to wait for medical science to catch up with Chana Daskal's will to live and to live the best life she can for her kids."
One option, Panzella said, was a face transplant similar to a recent procedure performed in France in which doctors grafted a nose, chin and lips from a donor onto the face of a female recipient.
Daskal would not seek the procedure for cosmetic reasons but to replace scar tissue that interferes with speech and facial functions, Panzella said.
http://www.wnbc.com/news/5547980/detail.html
A Brooklyn woman, the sole survivor of a Grand Canyon sightseeing air crash that killed six people in 2001, has settled a lawsuit involving the tour company, pilot and helicopter manufacturer.
A lawyer for Chana Daskal, 29, said Thursday that a confidential financial agreement had been reached in the civil lawsuit stemming from the crash near Meadview, Ariz.
"All the Daskal family's claims are settled as to all the parties in this action," lawyer Bernadette Panzella said from Staten Island.
Panzella said sealed documents had been submitted Tuesday in Las Vegas and final paperwork was being prepared. She declined to discuss settlement terms.
Lawyers and officials representing tour company Papillon Grand Canyon Helicopters in Las Vegas; American Eurocopter Corp. and Turbomeca Engine Corp., of Grand Prairie, Texas; Washington-based helicopter retailer Zuni LLC; and the estate of the pilot, who died in the crash, did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment.
Daskal has been slowly rehabilitating from near-fatal injuries she received in the crash Aug. 10, 2001, Panzella said. The mother of two suffered a broken back, burns over 80 percent of her body and had both legs amputated after the helicopter crashed into a cliff during a sightseeing tour to the Grand Canyon.
Daskal's husband, David Daskal, and traveling companions Shayie Lichtenstein, Avi and Barbara Wajsbaum and Aryeh Zvi Fastag, all of Brooklyn, were killed along with the pilot, Kevin Innocenti, 27, of Henderson.
The National Transportation Safety Board blamed pilot error for the crash in a report last year.
The lawsuit, filed in 2003, remained active Thursday. A hearing is scheduled Jan. 12 in Clark County District Court on a dismissal request, and a conference is scheduled March 7 to complete agreements.
Panzella characterized Daskal, the mother of two boys, now 10 and 4, as a fierce survivor who was severely disfigured but who hopes medical advances can help her overcome her injuries.
"This settlement is going to allow her to improve her life and the lives of her children," Panzella said. "We have to wait for medical science to catch up with Chana Daskal's will to live and to live the best life she can for her kids."
One option, Panzella said, was a face transplant similar to a recent procedure performed in France in which doctors grafted a nose, chin and lips from a donor onto the face of a female recipient.
Daskal would not seek the procedure for cosmetic reasons but to replace scar tissue that interferes with speech and facial functions, Panzella said.
http://www.wnbc.com/news/5547980/detail.html
Comments:
The fact is that the poor girls is in a coma, and has been for almost the entire time since the accident, so many of the things quoted in this article are untrue.
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Comment Credit ---This article posted by 
: December 18, 2005 3:49 AM
: December 18, 2005 3:49 AM
