U.S. helicopter maker settles with families of 6 Canadian military members killed in crash

An American helicopter manufacturer has reached a confidential settlement with the families of six Canadian military members killed in a helicopter crash off the coast of Greece five years ago.

The families sued Sikorsky in 2023 after a CH-148 Cyclone flown by the Royal Canadian Air Force crashed into the Ionian Sea at full speed in April 2020. 

Two military reviews found the autopilot took control of the helicopter during a low-altitude manoeuvre while returning to the Halifax-based frigate HMCS Fredericton during a reconnaissance mission and training.

"After two mediations, almost two years of contested litigation and the exchange of tens of thousands of pages of documents, the parties have recently reached a settlement," according to the victims' families request to the U.S. federal court to approve the settlement on June 27. 

The crash is considered the biggest single-day loss of life for Canada's military since the Afghan war. It claimed the lives of Capt. Kevin Hagen, Capt. Brenden MacDonald, Capt. Maxime Miron-Morin, Master Cpl. Matthew Cousins, Sub-Lt. Matthew Pyke and Sub-Lt. Abbigail Cowbrough.

As part of the lawsuit, the victims' families shared a video with Sikorsky containing interviews with family, friends and Canadian Armed Forces members about the loss of the six military members. The families also submitted reports about the economic damages they faced, court documents said.

The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania where a now-closed facility built, upgraded and tested the CH-148, the original lawsuit said. 

The financial terms of the settlement were not made public.

There was "little factual disagreement" between the families and Sikorsky in court that the helicopter's electric flight control system overrode the pilot's commands causing the crash, according to the request to approve the settlement.

But there was "significant" disagreement over who was responsible for this design feature and if the pilot and crew played a role in the crash, the court documents said.

WATCH | From 2021: Families grieve loss of 6 military members:

The victims' families argued Sikorsky "was grossly negligent" in their design of the helicopter and failed to conduct appropriate testing or warn the Canadian military and its pilots of potential dangers. 

Sikorsky argued that the Canadian Armed Forces conducted testing before accepting the helicopter and that the pilots shouldn't have performed a manoeuvre that wasn't in the standard manual, according to court documents.

Before reaching a settlement, Sikorsky filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit and later asked to transfer the case to Connecticut.