(Mason City)– A wrongful death lawsuit has been filed in federal court by the family of an Iowa nurse who died with two others in the January crash of a medical helicopter.
The family of Shelly Lair-Langenbau has sued the air transport company that owned the helicopter and employed its pilot. The lawsuit was initially filed in Cerro Cordo County District Court, but was moved last week to federal court.
The family says Med-Trans Corp., a North Dakota-based corporation that operates its helicopter service out of Lewisville, Texas, is to blame for Lair-Langenbau’s death. The suit says the pilot, Gene Grell, took off in unsafe weather conditions.
Lair-Langenbau, Grell and paramedic Russell Piehl died in the January 2nd crash. The helicopter had been headed to Emmetsburg from Mason City to pick up a patient when it slammed into the ground just north of Ventura.
(From the Associated Press.)
