Dismissal of Wrongful Death Lawsuit Against Idaho Reversed

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — The Idaho Supreme Court has reversed a lower court's dismissal of a wrongful death lawsuit against the Idaho Department of Fish and Game filed after a helicopter crash that killed the pilot and two agency biologists.

The court on Friday said the lawsuit by the father of the pilot killed in the crash can proceed because of the possible liability of state officials. Perry Krinitt filed the lawsuit following the 2010 crash in northern Idaho that killed 43-year-old Perry J. Krinitt Jr. of Belgrade, Montana.

The crash also killed 47-year-old Larry Barrett and 34-year-old Danielle Schiff, biologists planning to count salmon spawning nests in the Selway River. Federal aviation officials say a clipboard Schiff carried into the craft somehow fell out and hit the tail rotor.