British dad whose son died in Grand Canyon helicopter crash warns there may be 8,000 ‘flying bombs’ in US
A father, who is to receive a $100m (£78m) settlement after his son died in a helicopter crash, has told Sky News there could be around 8,000 “flying bombs” in the US due to the danger of fuel tanks that might rupture.
British tourist Jonathan Udall, 31, suffered burns to over 90% of his body after the aircraft burst into flames in the Grand Canyon.
He died after spending 12 days in hospital following the tragedy that occurred when the Airbus EC130 B4 came down shortly before sunset on 10 February 2018.
His newlywed wife Ellie Udall, 29, brothers Stuart and Jason Hill, 30 and 32, and Stuart’s 27-year-old girlfriend Becky Dobson, also died in the crash.
Mr Udall’s parents claimed in a wrongful death lawsuit that their son, originally from Southampton, could have survived if it was not for the post-crash fire – caused by the helicopter’s fuel tank that they claim was prone to rupturing.
Mr Udall’s father, Philip, said his son and daughter-in-law “were perfect, they had it all”.
“John was a very successful businessman in the financial world”, working as the southeast manager for Yorkshire Building Society and “he had a blossoming career,” said Mr Udall. Ellie also worked for the same company and “she was incredible”.
He said the family used to have lots of meals together but there was now a “huge hole where they used to sit”.
“There’s nobody in it. There will forever be two seats empty.”
Jonathan and Ellie Udall were two of five people who died in the tragedy
Mr Udall now wants all helicopters in the US to be fitted with crash-resistant fuel systems.
He said that if this doesn’t happen, other people “are going to die” and “it could be your children next”.
The helicopter in which his son lost his life did not have such a system, and he said he had it on “good authority” that if it had been fitted with one, “they [John and Ellie] would have got out”.
“The system won’t completely prevent fire. What it does do is buy time to get out,” he added.
Philip Udall said: “There is a loophole in the law [in the US] that allows helicopters to fly without a crash-resistant fuel system – so basically it’s a flying bomb.”
“And that’s our lawyer’s words. It’s a plastic container about as good as a milk bottle, that you’ve got the fuel in. When the helicopter goes down it just fractures and the fuel is out. This has been going on since 1994.”
Mr Udall said he believes there are around 170 crashes that have happened which were considered to be survivable “and it’s all not survivable because of these fuel tanks”.
He said anyone thinking of getting into a helicopter should ask the following question: “Does this helicopter have a crash-resistant fuel system?”
Jonathan Udall’s father, Philip, has spoken to Sky News
He said “if the answer is no, I would think very carefully about whether I got into it or not”.
“The Grand Canyon is a rough place. There are mountains, valleys. It’s a very turbulent environment.”
The company which ran the tragic flight in which Jonathan and Ellie later died has since fitted all its aircraft with crash-resistant fuel systems.
What does the law say in America?
Mr Udall stated a law was introduced in the US in 1994 which said all helicopters should have such systems, except ones that were designed in the 1970s but were then modified.
“They didn’t need to have [these systems] so manufacturers took advantage of it, [it was] cheaper.”
“There could be something like 8,000 helicopters flying around looking for somewhere to explode.”
He also said the law was changed in recent years which ruled all newly-built helicopters have to have crash-resistant fuel systems.
“We are looking at what we can do because there are still people climbing into helicopters not aware of the fact that what they are sitting on, because the fuel tank is just behind your head,” Mr Udall warned.
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Video shows survivor fleeing wreckage
Payout ‘means nothing to us’
The £78m payout he received over his son’s death “means nothing to us”, he added.
“What it means is we have a resource we can call on that we can use, that we can try and get the situation improved. That was the reason for doing it.”
He said he had already provided equipment to burns units and was getting involved with charities.
“The most important thing is to try to move the clock on so there are no flying bombs.”
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Under the settlement approved by a US judge in Clark County, Nevada, on Friday, Philip and Marlene Udall, will receive $24.6m (£19.3m) from the helicopter operator, Papillon Airways, and $75.4m (£59.3m) from its French manufacturer, Airbus Helicopters SAS.
A 2021 report by the National Transportation Safety Board report in the US concluded that a probable cause for the helicopter crash was the pilot losing control due to tailwind conditions.
The pilot, Scott Booth, told police that the aircraft had encountered a “violent gust of wind” and began to spin.
He fractured his lower left leg, and passenger Jennifer Barham had a spinal fracture in the crash. They also suffered severe burns but survived.
Since then, both of Mr Booth’s legs have been amputated.
US
Donald Trump ‘not thinking about Melania’ when he paid off Stormy Daniels, says ex-lawyer Michael Cohen
Donald Trump “wasn’t thinking about (his wife) Melania” when he paid off a former porn star, his former lawyer has testified.
Michael Cohen told a court Mr Trump personally approved $130,000 in hush money to Stormy Daniels over an alleged 2006 sexual encounter.
The payout isn’t illegal, but Mr Trump is accused of falsifying records to hide it – a claim he denies.
On Monday, his trial in New York heard from Mr Cohen, once a lawyer and self-described “fixer” for the ex-president.
Mr Trump’s lawyers have painted the hush money as an attempt to protect his wife from rumours and upset.
Michael Cohen has himself been jailed over the payment to Daniels. Pic: Reuters
However, Mr Cohen said his boss was purely concerned with keeping the claims quiet as he ran for the presidency.
“He wasn’t thinking about Melania. This was all about the campaign,” he said, prompting Mr Trump to shake his head in response.
Mr Cohen told the court he’d heard Stormy Daniels was considering selling her story and he told his boss swift action was required.
Mr Trump denies the affair and his lawyers say Mr Cohen acted on his own – a claim he denied in court.
He told jurors in Manhattan that “everything required Mr Trump’s sign-off” and he was ordered to “just do it”.
Mr Cohen said he stumped up the $130,000 himself after Mr Trump told him he would pay him back.
He said he set up a shell company – listed as a “real estate consulting company” – to make the payment.
Stormy Daniels, pictured in January. Pic: AP
Prosecutors say Mr Trump later paid the money back and covered it up by recording it as a legal retainer fee.
He faces 34 counts of falsifying business records over the claims.
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Hear Trump and his lawyer discuss hush money
The court also heard a recording of a conversation between Mr Trump and Mr Cohen over hush money said to have been paid to another woman, former Playboy model Karen McDougal, who he also allegedly had an affair with.
Mr Cohen suggests in the recording setting up another company to repay David Pecker – who said he provided the $150,000 to cover up the story.
The former National Enquirer boss previously testified he bought the story to keep it hidden and eventually decided against seeking reimbursement.
Later in the recording, Mr Trump can be heard suggesting the $150,000 might be better off being paid in cash.
Mr Cohen told the court this was to “avoid any type of paper transaction”.
The 57-year-old – who once said he would take a bullet for Mr Trump – worked for him for nearly a decade.
Stormy Daniels, pictured in January. Pic: AP
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He pleaded guilty to violating campaign finance law in 2018 over the Stormy Daniels payment and was jailed, but at the time prosecutors did not bring charges against Mr Trump.
Mr Cohen’s credibility is in the sights of defence lawyers as he has previously admitted lying under oath.
Mr Trump – who will take on Joe Biden in his bid to become president again in November – is unlikely to face a custodial sentence if found guilty.
His other cases are potentially more damaging but mired in delays.
They concern allegations of keeping stacks of secret documents after leaving office and trying to overturn his 2020 election defeat. He denies the claims.
A livestream portal between Dublin and New York was temporarily shut down after “inappropriate behaviour” in the Irish capital.
Thousands of people have visited the two-way portal, which allows people on either side to see and interact with each other.
And while there have been a number of wholesome moments – including Irish dancing and even a proposal – a handful of people have behaved “inappropriately”, Dublin City Council has said.
Videos on social media have shown people on the Irish side flashing body parts, and displaying images of 9/11 and swear words on phone screens.
A woman was also escorted away by police after being seen grinding against the portal.
In a statement issued on Monday evening, a spokesperson for Dublin City Council said “technical solutions” to address this are being implemented in the next 24 hours.
People in each city could be seen greeting each other when the portal opened last week. Pic: Reuters
“We will continue to monitor the situation over the coming days with our partners in New York to ensure that Portals continue to deliver a positive experience for both cities and the world,” they said.
“The team at portals.org and partners are still working on improving the software for better stability and to prepare for Portals to expand to more locations on Earth.
“Those works are being done mostly at night and during those hours, the livestream might be paused.”
Dublin City Council noted there has been an increase in footfall since the Portal was unveiled in north Dublin, facing O’Connell Street. The New York portal is at the busy Manhattan junction of Broadway, Fifth Avenue and 23rd Street.
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Most interactions via the portals have been wholesome. Pic: Reuters
“The overwhelming majority of interactions are positive,” the spokesperson added. “We have seen families and friends unite, dancing moves being shared as well as new friendships being made. There was even a successful marriage proposal.
“The Portal offers a window to other cities and is connecting people and cultures in a unique manner – what we are seeing between Dublin and NY is reflective of a wider narrative of cultural behaviour.”
The Portals Organisation said: “We do not intend to suggest people to interact with Portals in any particular way – our goal is to open a window between far away places and cultures that allows people to interact freely with one another.
“We encourage people to be respectful and from our position as observers, we see that the absolute majority of experiences is on the bright side.”
In an earlier statement, they confirmed the livestream had been paused so they could “update the software used on the Portal”.
The new version of the ChatGPT AI chatbot has been unveiled and offers near-instant results across text, vision and audio, according to its maker.
OpenAI said it was much better at understanding visuals and sounds than previous versions.
It offers the prospect of real-time ‘conversations’ with the chatbot, including the ability to interrupt its answers.
The firm says it “accepts as input any combination of text, audio, and image and generates any combination of text, audio, and image outputs”.
GPT-4o is to be rolled out over the next few weeks amid a battle by tech firms to develop ever-more advanced artificial intelligence tools.
Monday’s announcement showed tasks such as real-time language translation; using its vision capability to solve a maths question on a piece of paper, and to guide a blind person around London.
GPT-4o can respond to audio in as little as 232 milliseconds, with an average of 320 milliseconds, which the company says is similar to human response time.
To try to ease concerns over bias, fairness and misinformation, the Microsoft-backed company says the new version has undergone extensive testing by 70 external experts.
It comes after Google earlier this year had a major PR blunder over images generated by its Gemini AI system.
GPT-4o model will be free, but premium ‘Plus’ users get a greater capacity limit for messages.
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Previous versions of the chatbot have caused unease in schools and universities due to some students using it to cheat by producing convincing essays.
When it launched two years ago, ChatGPT was said to be the fastest-ever app to reach 100 million active monthly users.
The announcement also stole a march on Google, which is expected to tomorrow show off its own new AI features at its annual developers’ conference.
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