Only survivor of deadly 2021 heli-skiing crash speaks out

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) - The only survivor of a 2021 helicopter crash in the Chugach Mountains spoke with Alaska’s News Source this month about a horrific collision on a mountain that left five people dead, including a billionaire considered one of the wealthiest men in Europe.

The full interview can be seen at the bottom of this article.

David Horváth, the only person who survived and the third member of the Czech party, is suing Tordrillo Mountain Lodge, saying the lodge had a responsibility to monitor the helicopter — owned by Soloy Helicopters of Wasilla — and that it failed to act responsibly after tracking devices showed the helicopter had not moved and no one had checked in with the group for more than an hour.

A spokeswoman for the lodge replied in an email that the company would not comment on the suit, pointing instead to its legal response to the suit.

That answer to the suit says the lodge checked with a third party when a problem was noticed and that the third-party company lied to lodge personnel about the situation and claimed the chopper was on the way back.

Horváth, a Czech snowboarder, says the group of friends started the day of heli-skiing late. The group were regulars of Tordrillo Mountain Lodge, located about 60 miles northwest of Anchorage across Cook Inlet. The lodge contracts with Soloy for helicopter services.

“It was a really good group, there are smiling all day long,” Horváth said. “That’s like perfect day for heli-boarding, for snowboarding, for enjoying the powder.”

Horváth is an accomplished snowboarder who traveled around the world with Czech billionaire Petr Kellner to find the best snow conditions.

“Alaska have the specialty, they have the steepest hill and the snow is stick on the mountains, and so there is no avalanches and there is not that big deal with this kind of damages,” Horváth said.

The group had made three or four runs and eventually found a window of beautiful weather, and they stayed late to enjoy the day.

Horváth said the crash seemed to happen instantly, occurring at about 5,500 feet with the helicopter then rolling 800 or 900 feet downhill.

“Smash, you know I don’t remember how many times you roll over and after all this stop, and quiet, nothing, so that’s in my mind was the first moment, ‘What the hell is going on,’” Horváth recalled.

Trapped by his seatbelt, Horváth was stuck inside the helicopter with his mind racing, thinking about surviving for the birth of his third child.

Outside the helicopter, he could see Kellner walking.

“I just started screaming really loudly, saying like, ‘Hey, Petr, we don’t die here! Come on, come to help me!’ and stuff like that. But he was maybe shocked or something and maybe what I think he sees something in back on the helicopter. So he walks, not close, but 10 meters around me and back to the helicopter. And that was the last time when I see him,” Horváth said.

Horváth said he kept screaming, hundreds of times, to his friend in Czech.

Horváth said his ribs were broken, he was surrounded by his dead friends, trapped in the helicopter, unable to get Kellner to communicate with him.

“So I was there alone for a long time, for eight hours,” Horváth said. “It’s always, if I say this number, and the position where I was, eight hours sitting in the helicopter in the middle of Alaska. Geez. You know it’s heavy, heavy duty.”

There is no federal law regarding how often heli-ski operators must check in with the skiers and the pilot, but industry standards set by the national Heli-Ski U.S. Association, which the lodge belongs to, call for initiating emergency plans if no one is heard from on the chopper, or it has not moved in an hour.

A variety of GPS and radio tracking devices are used to show where heli-ski choppers are even in very remote areas, it’s called flight following.

There was no communication between the helicopter or movement noted by tracking devices for more than 30 minutes, and according to the NTSB report, “it would have been reasonable for the lodge to activate its emergency response plan at this point,” despite the conclusion in the report that “no clear evidence indicated that an accident had occurred.”

The NTSB report blamed pilot error for the crash, saying the pilot failed to “adequately respond to an encounter with whiteout conditions.”

Horváth said he started feeling cold. He began to rub his body to warm up. He could hear a helicopter in the distance, but never saw one.

“I was screaming. I was like, mad, because you know I can’t move nothing, it’s not possible to open it [the helicopter] so I can get out,” Horváth said. “Hurt. Crazy. Cold. Everything, the blood is everywhere the bad stinky jet was everywhere so, I just waiting.”

His mind turned to thoughts about his wife, their children, and a baby boy who would be born a few months later. Horváth said he tried to think positively.

Hours later, he said he saw the helicopter and knew the pilot had spotted him.

He then fell asleep and woke up in the hospital.

Several of his fingers had to be amputated because of frostbite.

Horváth says it hurts to snowboard these days.

He says he is “really angry” about what happened.

“More and more, and I don’t mean only the crash, I mean, like all the situation. It’s crazy.”

Other lawsuits also remain in the case.

Those who died include two Alaskans, a Colorado man, and two Czech Republic residents:

• 38-year-old Girdwood resident Sean McManamy
• 33-year-old Anchorage resident Zachary Russell, the pilot of the craft
• 52-year-old Colorado heli-skiing guide Gregory Harms
• 50-year-old Czech Republic resident Benjamin Larochaix
• 56-year-old Czech Republic resident Petr Kellner, the wealthiest man in the country with an estimated net worth of $17.5 billion at the time of his death.

The family of the Czech billionaire is suing the helicopter owner Soloy, the lodge, as well as a third company.

Harms, who was working as a guide, survived the initial crash but died later. His family received worker’s compensation.

The three people who died immediately in the crash have settled all their claims.

Russell, the pilot, got worker’s compensation death benefits for his family.

McManamy, who was working as a guide, also got worker’s compensation from his employer, plus a settlement with Soloy.

Larochaix, a guest of the lodge, settled with Soloy.

Horváth also settled his claim with Soloy.