James Cameron's production company Lightstorm Entertainment has been hit with a wrongful death lawsuit by the family of one of the two filmmakers who died in a 2012 helicopter crash. Cameron is not personally listed in the lawsuit.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Lightstorm, Earthship Productions, Cameron Pace Group are being sued by Michael DeGruy's family because the defendants "owned, operated, designed, manufactured, sold, tested, maintained, selected an/or entrusted the subject helicopter and subject pilot."
DeGruy and Andrew Wight both died in Australia in Feb. 2012 when their helicopter crashed shortly after taking off. DeGruy's family are seeking damages, both punitive, pecuniary and non-pecuniary, to be determined in court.
The filmmaker was going to film a submarine's descent when the helicopter crashed, Deadline reports.
The filed complaint claims: "The Cameron Defendants, GWP and Does 51-100 knew or should have known that Andrew Wight was incompetent or unfit to fly the subject helicopter and that the subject helicopter was not crashworthy and its design posed a risk of severe injury and/or death in the event of a crash."
The 45-page complaint continues, "The acts and omissions of the Cameron Defendants, GWP ... constitute fraud, oppression, or malice. Their acts and omissions were carried out with a willful and conscious disregard of the rights or safety of others, including Michael DeGruy."
image: Wikimedia Commons
