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Las Vegas jury awards $16 million in 2011 helicopter crash

A Las Vegas jury awards $16 million to the families of those killed in the Sundance helicopter crash in 2011.

By Heather Records

LAS VEGAS, Sept. 19 (UPI) -- A verdict was handed down Friday night in a 2011 helicopter crash outside of Las Vegas.

A Las Vegas jury found Sundance Helicopters Inc. negligent in the crash that killed five people in December of that year near Lake Mead.

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The families of the four people who died were awarded $16 million dollars.

The passengers were two married couples -- newlyweds from India, and a couple from Kansas celebrating their 25th wedding anniversary.

The pilot was also killed in the crash.

NTSB investigators said a worn lock nut came loose on the helicopter. That caused the aircraft to spin upward out of control, then make a sharp turn and rapid descent before crashing.

After the verdict attorney Gary Robb said about the company, "You've got to clean up your act. You've got to have safer maintenance practices, because these people depend on you for their lives."

When asked if he thinks Sundance Helicopters is safer today than at the time of the crash he replied "Absolutely not."

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