by C. David Fonvielle, Firm Partner

I was privileged to represent a young man who has courageously played the cards life dealt him. That young man, Trent Robinson, was the lone survivor when a Life Flight helicopter crashed in a Perry swamp in November of 1994.

With Trent's permission, here's the inside story of that fateful crash, how we became involved and how thorough preparation resulted in a significant settlement for our client.

After graduating from F.S.U. in 1989 with a degree in criminology, Trent Robinson discovered the personal satisfaction and fulfillment which came from helping others and made the decision to devote his life to that purpose. By 1994 Trent completed the courses and passed the state boards to become an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT), a paramedic, a registered nurse, and his final educational goal, an aeromedical specialist certification.

Trent's wife, Cindy, graduated from F.S.U. in 1987 with a B.S. in Nursing and worked as a registered nurse in Tallahassee and Thomasville, Georgia. She and Trent were married on May 1, 1993, and their plans were to participate in the Traveling Nurse Program for several years before having children. This program meant they would be able to choose three areas of the United States to live in over the next three years while working in their specialized health care fields, but with sufficient time off from work to enjoy their surroundings. The pay and benefits were excellent, the travel costs were paid by the program and included periodic trips back to Tallahassee. They chose Colorado, California and Hawaii as their locations and now the only obstacle remaining was Trent's experience as an aeromedical specialist.

On November 3, 1994, 27-year-old Trent Robinson completed his orientation and training program and became qualified as an aeromedical specialist on the Tallahassee Memorial Regional Medical Center Life Flight helicopter. On the way to work the next morning he stopped at a friend's house to show off his new Life Flight uniform. At 10 a.m. that day he departed TMRMC on his first Life Flight mission with another aeromedical specialist to pick up a cardiac patient at the Perry, Florida, hospital. Unknown to either of the paramedics on board, the pilot for this Life Flight mission had special plans for Trent Robinson's inaugural flight. These plans would result in the helicopter flying into power lines and crashing, killing the pilot and front-seated aeromedical specialist and permanently changing the lifetime plans of Trent and Cindy Robinson.

Within a week or so of the crash our office was contacted by a friend of Trent Robinson's family. The family was primarily concerned about Trent's survival since he was in the Burn Intensive Care Unit at Shands Hospital in Gainesville, Florida. During several of Trent's conscious moments he said something about low-level maneuvers of the helicopter prior to the crash. The family friend realized these murmurings by Trent were inconsistent with the reports of an attempted emergency landing, and knew an immediate and thorough investigation into this accident was in order. The family hired us to look into the facts surrounding the crash.

We immediately sent engineers, photographers and videographers in a twin engine helicopter piloted by an expert pilot to the crash site for the purpose of reconstructing the accident. Fortunately, we arrived on the accident scene soon enough after the crash to be able to document the initial point of impact for the helicopter and the direction that the helicopter skidded on the ground as it destructed.

One of the people on the scene and in the helicopter for the reconstruction work was our long-time investigator Bob Parke. Bob, a former flight instructor, had the reconstruction figured out as soon as he saw the crash scene.

With nothing more than the preliminary reconstruction of the flight path of the helicopter when it struck the power lines, Bob Parke rented a light, slow flying airplane, and flew over the general route from Tallahassee to the crash site looking for some explanation for the helicopter's position and altitude at the point of the crash. Bob noticed that the Aucilla River provided a winding, obstruction-free path which connected with a logical progression of intermittent open fields that led to the crash scene. As a pilot and experienced investigator, Bob knew this was an ideal area for low-altitude flight.

Illustration by Linda Dodson.

November meant hunting season, woods and fields meant hunters and Bob had his next lead. The result was two hunters saw the Life Flight helicopter prior to the crash on the day of the accident, and one hunter who saw it flying the Aucilla River at very low altitude on a prior date. One of the hunters who saw the Life Flight helicopter prior to the crash on November 4, 1994 was in a deer stand approximately 70 feet above the ground, and the helicopter flew beneath him as it crossed one of the fields Bob had identified. Another hunter was trying to get his truck out of a mud hole on the day of the accident when the helicopter flew past him so low to the ground that it blew dirt and rocks on him and his son.

With this information we were able to complete the reconstruction of the flight path and altitude of the helicopter from a point many miles prior to the crash site up to the power lines the helicopter flew into.

By this time Trent Robinson had begun his heroic recovery and we were able to hear his side of the story. Trent told us that initially everything seemed fine as the helicopter cruised at 1,000 feet towards Perry. All three aboard the helicopter were wearing head sets and could talk to each other over the intercom and hear any transmission between TMRMC and the pilot. About halfway into the trip the pilot stated over the intercom, "it's time to give Trent a real ride," or something to that effect. Following that statement the helicopter suddenly went into a steep dive at such a high speed that Trent remembered the aircraft shuddering and groaning against the stresses created by the speed of the helicopter as it dove towards the ground. As the earth raced towards him in the windshield, he was terrified and thought the helicopter was going to come apart in the dive or crash straight down into the earth. At about 50 feet above the ground, the pilot brought the helicopter to level flight and continued to fly so low through the fields that Trent remembered maneuvering around and over trees to avoid hitting them. At one point the paramedic seated in the front seat looked back at Trent with obvious fear in his eyes. All Trent could do was hold on to his seat as the helicopter rolled from left to right and violently sprang over trees between fields.

Suddenly a radio transmission came over the intercom. It was Tallahassee Memorial Regional Medical Center asking for a position and altitude report. Before replying, the pilot pulled the helicopter into a near vertical climb to 1,000 feet and then reported that he was level at 1,000 feet. Just as Trent took a deep breath of relief, the helicopter dove back towards the ground, leveled out at about 50 feet and continued to fly around trees and obstacles. Trent remembers seeing the airspeed indicator registering 120 knots (about 140 m.p.h.). The last memory Trent has of the flight is the helicopter entering a right turn and power lines suddenly appearing in the windshield.

Trent awoke to find himself lying on the ground, free of his seat and seat belts and without his helmet on. His initial thought was that it was all a dream. He could see the smoldering remains of the helicopter and the other paramedic lying on the ground at a distance. He remembers thinking this could not be real.

Reality set in and Trent realized he was on fire below the waist. He rolled into some standing rainwater next to him to put out the fire. He vaguely remembers a man who we determined was the first on the scene. His next recollection after the day of the crash is awakening in the Burn Intensive Care Unit. The TV was on and F.S.U. was playing Notre Dame in football. Eight days had passed since the crash.

Trent suffered third degree "full thickness" burns to approximately 25 percent of his body, primarily on the backs of his legs. Full thickness burns destroy not only what we would normally think of as our skin, but also the oil producing ability to those areas of the body as well as all means of blood supply to and from the areas burned. Skin grafts are required to cover these burned areas and the skin necessary for grafting had to be harvested from the rest of Trent's body. The result is that Trent's body has either been burned by fire or damaged by skin harvesting everywhere except his scalp.

Trent would live, but the doctors told him he would be permanently disabled due to the injuries. Trent and Cindy were told it could be as long as two years before Trent would be free of daily physical therapy and wearing compression garments over his entire body below the neck. Due to Trent's care requirements, earning an income would not be possible for Cindy for at least one year. Trent's future as a paramedic, EMT or aeromedical specialist was permanently eliminated. Cindy had to be strong when she was with Trent, but when she was alone grief, despair and depression kept her in tears.

We filed our lawsuit and proceeded to take depositions of the Life Flight members and some hospital personnel. Much to our surprise we found two TMRMC employees who had been on flights similar to Trent's but had not reported these incidents. The testimony of the man who was first on the crash scene was that no human should ever see what he saw that day. Our expert in the proper and safe operation of helicopters described the flying tactics of the Life Flight pilot on November 4, 1994 as "criminal." He would testify that there was no excuse for the low level flight maneuvers that led up to this crash. Furthermore, if the low level flight was necessary, the maximum forward speed of the helicopter at this low altitude should not exceed 40 m.p.h. If the helicopter had been going 40 m.p.h. instead of 140 m.p.h., it could have easily avoided the power lines.

Pre-trial mediation is required in every case brought in this judicial circuit. Properly done, mediation is an informal trial of the case before a certified mediator instead of a jury. The mediator reviews the evidence with the parties to the lawsuit and attempts to resolve the case by virtue of a settlement. At Trent Robinson's mediation we presented our evidence as to why this crash occurred. Statements of witnesses and exhibits demonstrating the reconstructed flight path and altitude of the helicopter as it approached the accident scene, doctors' prognoses for Trent, and a video presentation we prepared describing how this accident had impacted Trent and Cindy Robinson's lives were presented. Vivid illustrations and photographs of Trent Robinson's injuries were displayed.

Both sides usually learn a lot about their case at mediation. One of the things we learned was that, as we suspected, the insurance carrier for the company which operated the helicopter on November 4, 1994 had been on the crash scene within 24 hours of the crash for purposes of reconstructing the crash. Because of their immediate access to accident scenes, insurance companies very often acquire the advantage with physical evidence, photography, witness statements and invaluable on-the-scene documentation. This evidence is then kept from the Plaintiff's attorneys under the veil of "work product" and often we never have all the facts. Due to prompt action on the part of Cindy, Trent's parents, and the Robinsons' friends, we were brought into the case early enough to accumulate all the available evidence, and this fact was clearly learned by the Defendant at mediation.

Prior to mediation the question would regularly come up from Trent or Cindy Robinson as to how they would ever be able to live the rest of their lives in any semblance of the life they had always dreamed of and worked towards. That question was answered by their lawsuit and the settlement obtained at mediation will provide Trent and Cindy the economic foundation to rebuild their lives and future.

Today Trent continues with physical therapy and still wears compression suits over the majority of his body. The burned areas of his body cannot produce natural oils to protect the grafted skin, and without daily applications of artificial oils Trent's grafted skin would dry, crack and die. Crisco shortening is one of the oils recommended for this purpose. Trent lives with constant pain and permanent loss of range of motion in his legs, left arm and left shoulder. He has tried to return to work but the standing and sitting required made that impossible. His passion for helping others remains however, and Trent has agreed to donate his time to the Phoenix Society which is a national support group for critically burned victims. Trent has recently agreed to teach a paramedic course on the treatment and management of burn victims at Tallahassee Community College. Cindy is back at work part-time. Although the career plans Cindy and Trent had prior to the crash will never occur, those plans no longer seem important. Whether it's Trent being chosen as one of the U.S. Olympic torch bearers, or discovering Cindy is pregnant with their first child, each day brings something special.

The most recurring question they both have is not why this tragedy occurred but why Trent survived the crash. There is no physical or mechanical explanation for how Trent ended up 75 feet outside the remains of the helicopter, unbuckled from his seat belt and shoulder harness, without his helmet on and with only one relatively minor broken bone. The deceleration forces alone in this crash were inconsistent with occupant survival notwithstanding the fuel-fed fire. As Trent says, there must be a reason for his survival and he believes it was to continue his mission to help others.