Family of the pilot who was killed in a forest fire helicopter in California, reaches a settlement of 15 million US dollars -East Bay Times

Los Angeles – The family of a helicopter pilot who died when his helicopter had crashed in 2020 when he fought a forest fire in South California, reached an agreement of 15 million US dollars with the company that maintained the plane on Friday.

On August 19, 2020, Michael Fournier from Rancho Cucamonga made water waste over hilly, rugged terrain when his bright red bell opera suddenly fell into a hill when he helped fight the hill, the fire of 10 miles (16 kilometers) south of the small central Valley city in Coalinga.

Fournier worked for a private company in South California, which summarizes with the California Ministry of Forestry and Fire Protection and Cal Fire, as well as other agencies to provide fire aircraft and other services.

“The Fournier family's lawsuit was looking for answers and accountability, and this result is doing exactly that,” said Andrew Robb, one of the lawyers who submitted the lawsuit. Robb said the family would not make public comments.

An examination of the national transportation Safety board came to the conclusion that the helicopter had crashed due to “failure of the hydraulic system”.

Moments before the crash, Fournier sparkled air traffic control that he had problems with the hydraulics of the helicopter, said Robb.

Fournier worked with Guardian Helicopters based in Fillmore, California, and at that time had a contract with Cal Fire about the provision of emergency services. The handling was paid for by Rotorcraft Support, Inc., the company that maintained the helicopter. A telephone message with the helicopter expectation company was not returned immediately on Friday.

Fournier's Copter fell down in a remote, hilly, smoke-filled area, in which a search and rescue team of the sheriff sheriff in Fresno, almost four hours to reach.

Fourteen team members in five jeeps traveled miles through soft dirt under a smoke-filled sky and finally left the vehicles to go to the crash location for the last hundred meters. There they carefully wrapped the body into an American flag and wore them to one of the vehicles.

Originally published: May 12, 2025 at 5:58 a.m. PDT

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