The family of a man who died in a gyrocopter crash in 2014 is suing an insurance company for breach of contract.
According to a lawsuit filed March 31 in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, Norma Bartholomew Maher, her son, Nicholas J. Mahler, and the estate of Darren Joseph Mahler are suing Aetna Insurance Co. for not honoring a contractual claim.
Darren Mahler died on Sept. 21, 2014, when he lost control of the gyrocopter he was flying in St. John Parish. According to the lawsuit, the two rotor blades on the aircraft, "which cause the aircraft to gain and lower altitude, both folded upward, depriving the aircraft of further lift. As a result ..., Mahler was unable to control the aircraft, thereby causing him to plummet and crash to the ground in an adjacent canal that runs parallel to the runway."
The plaintiffs seek an undisclosed amount exceeding $75,000.
The plaintiffs are represented by attorney Frank D. Ippolito of Chalmette.
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, Case No.: 15-CV-00979-EEF-MBN.
Family sues over fatal gyrocopter crash
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