Settlement reached in 'The Final Season' helicopter crash

DES MOINES -- The parties involved in a multimillion-dollar civil damage case stemming from a fatal helicopter crash during the filming of "The Final Season" have reached a mediated settlement to resolve all issues in the case.

Dwight James, a Des Moines attorney who acted as mediator, and attorneys in the case confirmed that all the matters in dispute were resolved and there will not be any appeals. Terms of the settlement were not made public.

Last summer, a Polk County jury decided that pilot error was primarily the cause of the June 30, 2006, accident. It came during aerial filming for the movie about Norway High School's 1991 baseball championship.

At the close of last summer's trial, jurors awarded $7.2 million in damages to Kathryn Schlotzhauer, whose husband, Roland, 50, a cameraman from Lenexa, Kan., died when the helicopter snagged overhead utility lines and crashed in a cornfield along Highway 151.

The jury also awarded $4.16 million to co-producer Tony Wilson and his wife. Wilson was seriously injured as a passenger in the Bell 206 Jet Ranger helicopter flown by Richard Green of Hudson.

The complicated legal proceedings merged four lawsuits into one case and resulted in one of the largest civil damage awards in Iowa history after a five-week trial.

Jurors ruled that Green, who owned Ritel Copter Service, “The Final Season” company, and two of its producers were at fault for the fatal mishap. The jury did not assess any fault or cause of the accident to Bristol Aerospace, a Canadian company which manufactured a special wire-strike protection system that was mounted on Green's helicopter at the time of the crash. No fault was assessed to Wilson as well.

Rick Green of Hudson-based Ritel Copter declined to comment on the settlement, but said the business would be able to continue its operations.