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Kathy Batterman The flight nurse and two others were killed in 1999 in a helicopter crash

Thursday, April 04, 2002
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Flight nurse's family awarded $5 million

A panel of three arbitrators has awarded $5 million to the family of flight nurse Kathy Batterman, who died in an April 1999 helicopter crash near Indian Springs.

The panel awarded $3 million to Batterman's husband, Kurt, and another $1 million to each of the couple's children, 16-year-old Christopher and 12-year-old Jennifer.

Las Vegas attorney Randall Mainor, who represents the family, said Kathy Batterman had worked as a flight nurse for 18 years.

"She was not only a magnificent flight nurse," the attorney said. "She was a magnificent mother and wife. She was deeply devoted to her family."

Mainor said the award will allow Kurt Batterman, also a nurse, "to have an easier time raising his kids to adulthood." The money will help the Battermans' son fulfill his dream of attending medical school, the attorney said.

The award stemmed from a lawsuit filed in Las Vegas against Metro Aviation, the Louisiana company that owned the helicopter and employed its pilot. The parties agreed to resolve the case through arbitration.

"I think everyone is glad that it's over," said Las Vegas attorney Thomas Kummer, who represents Metro Aviation. "I was disappointed because I just think that was awful steep."

Kummer said he conceded liability and argued for an award of about $2.5 million.

"Of course it's extremely tough to value a human life in terms of dollars and cents because all the money in the world isn't going to bring Kathy Batterman back," he said.

Investigators ruled in a report released in December 2000 that pilot error and bad weather during a freak spring storm caused the crash.

Flight for Life pilot James Bond Jr. probably suffered "spatial disorientation and subsequent loss of control" of the aircraft in weather that had reduced visibility to less than 50 yards, according to the National Transportation Safety Board's final report.

Bond's reliance on what he could see in sleet and snow, rather than flying by instruments or calling air traffic control, probably caused the crash, the report said.

Batterman, 44, Bond, 42, and flight nurse Leroy Shelton, 37, died in the crash about 35 miles northwest of Las Vegas.

The crew members had dropped a patient off at Valley Hospital Medical Center at 11:15 p.m. on April 3, 1999, and were flying back to their base at Hidden Hills Airport in Pahrump, in Nye County.

Though the airport is 60 miles directly west of Las Vegas, Bond took a northerly route around the Spring Mountains because the range was shrouded with clouds.

Shelton's wife, Lori, filed a lawsuit against Metro Aviation. Her case was settled in 2000 for an undisclosed amount.