Judge rejects €30k settlement offer for girl who developed stress disorder after seeing helicopter crash

A judge today rejected a €30,000 settlement offer for a schoolgirl who developed a serious stress disorder after having seen a helicopter explode in flames in the centre of the seaside village of Bettystown, Co Meath, 12 years ago.
Judge rejects €30k settlement offer for girl who developed stress disorder after seeing helicopter crash

A judge today rejected a €30,000 settlement offer for a schoolgirl who developed a serious stress disorder after having seen a helicopter explode in flames in the centre of the seaside village of Bettystown, Co Meath, 12 years ago.

Barrister Jennifer O’Connell told Judge John O’Connor in the Circuit Civil Court that six-year-old Megan Whelan and her mother, Ms Angela Whelan, were lucky to have escaped death when the helicopter crash-landed within yards of them in the car park of the Neptune Hotel, Bettystown, on 18 September, 2008.

Ms O’Connell, who appeared with Barry O’Donnell Solicitors for Megan, who will be 18 in June, told the Circuit Court’s first remote hearing of a civil case because of the Covid-19 disease, that Megan had seen her mother hit by debris flying from the crash scene.

Judge O’Connor said the proposed settlement was not nearly enough for the significant psychiatric injuries Megan had suffered and refused to approve the offer made by defendants Barrack Construction Limited, Gp Helicopter Pilot Services and the pilot William Curry.

Ms O’Connell told Judge O’Connor that if the offer was not acceptable to the court the teenager’s legal team would be making an application to have the proceedings transferred to the unlimited jurisdiction of the High Court.

Megan’s mother suffered a hip injury from flying debris and had settled her claim several years ago.

Sadly, Ms O’Connell said, she had passed away in March of last year and her death had not been related to the 2008 crash.

Ms Leanne Cuffe, of Sraith Ban, Mullan Village, Monaghan, had taken over prosecution of the claim on behalf of her young sister.

Ms O’Connell said Megan had suffered a serious post-traumatic stress disorder including nightmares and flashbacks to the scene of the crash.

She still had to deal with the trauma of hearing very loud noises and the sound of helicopters.

The hearing and presentation of evidence was remotely controlled by Circuit Court Registrar John Doran who was complimented on the smooth remote running of the case by Judge O’Connor.

The helicopter had landed with two passengers on Bettystown beach in September 2008 and due to the attraction of a large number of onlookers the Sikorsky S76B pilot, William Curry of Kilcullen, Co Kildare, had decided to take off and land again in the hotel car park.

He was later prosecuted in the District Court where he admitted, among other charges, having flown in a reckless manner so as to endanger life or property.

He was fined €5,000 and given a suspended jail sentence of three months.

The Air Accident Investigating Unit had noted that during the re-positioning of the helicopter one of the blades had collided with a lamp-post which caused the aircraft to yaw and crash and burst into flames after the main rotor had hit the ground.

Captain Curry had successfully evacuated the helicopter without injury. A woman and child had been injured in what had been described as collateral damage.

The pilot had confirmed in the court hearing that he had seen the woman and child at a stage when he had been unable to abandon the landing manoeuvre in the hotel car park.

Judge O’Connor, refusing to approve the €30,000 damages offer, awarded Megan’s legal team its costs of the application.

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