Judge orders Delaware State Police to turn over full report on firefighter's fatal helicopter fall

  • Source: Delaware News Journal
  • Published: 12/05/2018 12:00 AM

A federal judge has ordered Delaware State Police to turn over the full accident report on the death of a Lewes firefighter who fell from a helicopter during a training exercise in 2016. Tuesday's order comes after a lawyer for the family of Timothy McClanahan issued a subpoena for an unredacted copy of the report and related materials. Police ignored the subpoena, saying they would provide an unredacted report only under court order. The lawsuit alleges that McClanahan fell to his death at a southern Delaware airport because a tether anchored to the helicopter and attached to his safety harness did not include a locking mechanism. McClanahan was doing a procedure he had done thousands of times before, friends and family said. He was also a member of the Delaware Air Rescue Team, which assists Delaware State Police in airborne rescues using a hoist from a helicopter. His funeral in July 2016 was attended by hundreds of emergency personnel from all over the state.



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