20-year-old Jordan Wells is suing the Federal Aviation Administration for Maryland personal injury. The Waldorf resident is the only one to survive the 2008 Medevac crash involving a Maryland State Police helicopter in District Heights. She is seeking $50 million.
According to Wells’ Maryland aviation accident lawsuit, FAA traffic controllers gave Maryland State Pilot Stephen J. Bunker dated information about the weather conditions on September 27, 2008. She also claims that they failed to guide Bunker into a safe landing when the navigation equipment started to fail and that they did not notify paramedics about the last-known coordinates of the aircraft.
The chopper was transporting Wells and her friend, 17-year-old Ashley J. Younger, to the hospital after they had been involved in a Waldorf car accident. Wells contends that if she hadn’t been stuck in the woods for two hours with the helicopter on her body, her leg could have been saved.
According to Wells’ Maryland aviation accident lawyer, his client has had 30 surgeries for the injuries she sustained in the Maryland helicopter accident and she may end up losing her other leg. Wells also has suffered from survivors’ guilty and post-traumatic stress-disorder.
Younger, Bunker, Trooper 1st Class Mickey C. Lippy, and EMT Tonya Mallard all died in the chopper accident. Mallard’s husband, Kenneth Mallard, is suing the FAA over her Maryland wrongful death for $7 million. Lippy’s widow, Christina, is seeking $15 million in wrongful death damages from the FAA.
Lone survivor of 2008 Medevac crash files $50 million lawsuit, Gazette.net, December 13, 2010
Widower of crash victim files lawsuit, ABC2News, August 2, 2010
Teen survives, 4 killed in medevac crash, CNN, September 28, 2008
Related Web Resource:
Federal Aviation Administration