Story ID: 
Schweizer family Sues Sikorsky
By: AIN Staff
Caption: Members of the Schweizer family claim Sikorsky short-changed them on the 2004 purchase of their helicopter company and are suing to recover $2.8 million.
Word Count: 137
Members of the Schweizer family claim Sikorsky short-changed them on the 2004 purchase of their helicopter company and are suing to recover $2.8 million. According to the lawsuit, Sikorsky parent United Technologies paid $12 million for the Elmira, N.Y.-based company with promises of up to $10 to $14 million more once certain program progress goals were met and two crash lawsuits were settled. The Schweizers maintain the progress goals on the unmanned Schweizer RU-38B surveillance aircraft and other projects were not met because Sikorsky reassigned Schweizer’s best engineers to work on its experimental X2. They also claim that Sikorsky settled the two crash lawsuits for $8.5 million, despite evidence that absolved Schweizer from liability, and that they were fired from their jobs in violation of the acquisition agreement. Sikorsky declined to comment on the lawsuit.