Family sues helicopter maker after crash that killed tourism operator and schoolgirl, despite pilot blame

The family of a pilot who was killed in a horrific helicopter accident alongside a 12-year-old girl is suing the aircraft manufacturer over his death despite the federal transport safety investigator largely blaming him for the crash.

WA tourism operator Troy Thomas and Perth schoolgirl Amber Millar were killed when his Robinson R44 Raven I crashed immediately after take-off from an industrial site at Broome five years ago.

The 40-year-old, his daughter Mia, her friend Amber and teacher’s aide Maddison Down were all on board when the chopper broke up mid-air, climbed to 75 feet and started spinning before plummeting into the bitumen below.

Mia Thomas, then 12, and Ms Down survived but were critically injured.

Despite the Australian Transport Safety Bureau’s investigation uncovering a litany of issues, failures and coverups preceding the fatal crash, Thomas’s widow Sophie is now suing Robinson Helicopter Company in the WA District Court on behalf of herself, her three children and Ms Down.

The 39-year-old’s statement of claim, obtained by The Nightly, reveals the five plaintiffs allege the aircraft was unsafe to fly on the day of the crash.

“The aircraft experienced an in-flight catastrophic failure … due to a defect in design, manufacture or assembly.”

The plaintiffs’ civil claim appears to be focussed on four bolts, which attached the chopper’s tail rotor gearbox to the tailcone bulkhead.

It says the bolts were “incorrectly torqued at the point of assembly” which caused the bulkhead to lack structural integrity and that the manufacturer should have used bolts that had safety lock-wire to prevent “unintended movement in service”.

The plaintiffs assert that Robinson Helicopter Company — based in the United States — and their employees, servants or agents breached its “duty of care to . . . ensure that the aircraft was of acceptable quality, fit for purpose and safe to operate”.

However, in 2023, the ATSB revealed Thomas had “a high risk appetite”, a history of non-compliance with aviation laws, was unlicensed to fly the chopper and that he knew there was a serious issue with it before taking passengers up that day.

The ATSB revealed that both Thomas and another pilot – Bryce McGlashan – had felt vibrations in the tail rotor pedals during the previous two flights, which may have indicated an “impending failure of a critical component”.

On July 3, the day before the fatal crash, three engineers from Pearl Coast Heli Maintenance inspected the chopper on the ground and conducted a dynamic tail rotor balance but could not replicate or identify the vibration.

The engineers told the ATSB that they notified both Thomas and Mr McGlashan – over the phone that afternoon – that a flight check by a solo pilot must be carried out but none of them logged the issue in the chopper’s Maintenance Release as required.

The safest next step, recommended by the helicopter manufacturer, was a graduated flight check – hovering – by a solo pilot.

“However, the next and final flight involved the conduct of a high-power towering take-off from a confined area with three passengers on board,” the ATSB said.

“Shortly after take-off, following the overstress fracture of the attachment lugs, the tail rotor gearbox separated from the helicopter.”

The plaintiffs’ statement of claim disputes the engineers’ accounts to the ATSB, saying the maintenance work was carried out and the helicopter “released as serviceable” the day before the crash.

The statement of claim also contradicts the ATSB’s finding that Thomas, the founder of Horizontal Falls Seaplane Adventures in Broome and Swan River Seaplanes in Perth, was not legally authorised to operate the R44 helicopter at the time of the accident. Instead, it says Thomas “at all material times held a Private Pilot Licence issued by the Civil Aviation Safety Authority”.

The court documents state that the couple’s three children — now aged 11 to 17 — have suffered all of the same losses as well as diminished employment prospects.

Ms Down, 29, also claims to have sustained personal injury, loss and damage, and diminished employment prospects.

The plaintiffs seek damages, interest on damages and costs. Their lawyer, Jackson McDonald partner Alex Lustig, declined to comment on the case.

Robinson Helicopter Co, headquartered in California, is being represented by Johnston Law. Neither the defendant nor its law firm responded to requests for comment.

Robinson filed its defence in June but the District Court registrar denied The Nightly access to that document.

A trial date, before Chief Judge Julie Anne Wager, is yet to be set.

Meanwhile Avanova Pty Ltd, which owned the destroyed chopper and is now directed by Ms Thomas, is defending two separate lawsuits in the WA District Court.

Amber’s mother Fiona Benbow is suing Avanova, Mr McGlashan and Pearl Coast Heli Maintenance over her daughter’s death. Her case will return to court on October 24.

Another plaintiff, Chelsea Cortese, is suing Avanova over a 2019 chopper crash involving Thomas in which she was seriously injured and almost drowned.

Ms Cortese’s matter returns to court on Wednesday.