Supreme Court to Decide Blame in Fatal Crash

An attorney for a Missouri utility company tells the state supreme court the utility is not at fault in a fatal helicopter accident in 1994. Four Army reservists from Kansas died when their chopper struck an electric distribution wire over the Osage River near Osage Bend. Ann Buckley, who represents Three Rivers Electric Cooperative, says the company had no reason to mark the wires, which were less than 100 feet above the river. But a lawyer for two of the reservists’ widows argues the utility should have marked the wires with orange balls. Grant Davis notes a similar accident occurred in the same place in 1975, with the same result. A jury found the utility largely at fault in the accident. The state supreme court will decide if that was the correct verdict.