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Lawsuit stemming from fatal Iowa helicopter crash settled

News

May 20th, 2016 by Ric Hanson

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) – The parties involved apparently have settled a lawsuit stemming from a medical helicopter crash that killed three people in northern Iowa.
The helicopter carrying pilot Gene Grell, nurse Shelly Lair-Langenbau and paramedic Russ Piehl went down Jan. 2, 2013, near Ventura while on their way to pick up a patient. Federal investigators blamed ice on the helicopter and said the aircraft was not equipped to fly in winter weather.

Lair-Langenbau’s family sued the helicopter operator, Med Trans Corp. Mason City television station KIMT reports that settlement details haven’t been released. Court documents filed this week show the case has been removed from the court calendar and that documents to dismiss the case will be filed by mid-June.

A federal trial in Sioux City was scheduled to begin June 6.