Lawsuits filed against companies associated with deadly 2021 helicopter crash

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) - In March 2021 a recreational outdoor excursion turned deadly when an Airbus AS350-B3 helicopter crashed approximately 21 miles southeast of Palmer near Knik Glacier. The crash killed five of the six people on board, including 33-year-old pilot Zachary Russell from Anchorage.

The group was heli-skiing in the Chugach Mountains when the accident occurred, killing 52-year-old Colorado resident Gregory Harms, 38-year-old Sean McManamy from Girdwood, 50-year-old Benjamin Larochaix, and 56-year-old billionaire Petr Kellner. Larochaix and Kellner were both from the Czech Republic.

The sole survivor was then 48-year-old David Horvath, who was transported to an Anchorage hospital.

Kellner’s death made international headlines as the prominent entrepreneur was the Czech Republic’s richest man, with a net worth of $17.5 billion.

On March 24, his family filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the helicopter, lodging, and heli-ski guide companies associated with the crash.

Soloy Helicopters LLC, Third Edge Alaska LLC, and Triumvirate LLC — the company that owns Tordrillo Mountain Lodge — have all been named in the suit. The complaint alleges that Kellner “suffered serious injuries but survived the initial impact and was alive and conscious after the Accident.”

It goes on to claim that “The Operators should have known about the Accident immediately after it happened, but they had failed to monitor the location and status of the Helicopter.”

The Kellner family suit claims Kellner could have survived the event, had search and rescue been notified sooner of the accident.

A separate lawsuit was filed four days later on March 28 by the surviving victim seeking medical, physical, and emotional damages from Triumvirate, but did not list Soloy or Third Edge as a party.

According to that complaint, when the helicopter crashed at approximately 6:38 p.m. three of the six people on board survived the initial impact, including Kellner and Horvath. Tordrillo Mountain Lodge then contacted Third Edge “to enquire if they had ‘heard anything’ about the status of [the helicopter]” the lawsuit stated.

The suit indicates that Third Edge understood the gravity of the situation and began making efforts to dispatch search and rescue crews.

Ultimately, Kellner and the other survivor succumbed to their injuries before the 212th Rescue Squadron out of Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson was able to rescue Horvath at approximately 11:45 p.m.

According to Horvath’s lawsuit, he “suffered many physical injuries as well as the excruciating and lasting emotional injury of talking the other two survivors who were alive for, in one case, what is estimated by Horvath’s recollection to be up to a couple of hours, to their deaths.”

Soloy and Third Edge declined to comment on the suit filed by Kellner’s family. A spokesperson for Triumvirate, the company named in both lawsuits, also said they were unable to comment on the ongoing litigation but gave a written statement.

“Triumvirate LLC and its employees again express condolences to the families who lost loved ones and to the survivor who was injured in the helicopter crash,” the statement read in part. “To be clear, Triumvirate LLC was not responsible for the crash and there is no merit to the claims against Triumvirate LLC.”