Family files $50M lawsuit after Quebec CEO, son killed in helicopter crash

The family of Quebec CEO and his son have filed a $50-million lawsuit after the pair was killed in a helicopter crash in 2019.

The family of Stéphane Roy, former Savoura CEO, and his son, Justin, has filed a $50 million lawsuit against Robinson Helicopter Company Inc., the U.S. manufacturer of the R44 helicopter involved in the July 2019 crash that killed them.

“My family and I are determined to uncover the complete truth behind this tragic event that took my brother and nephew,” said Daniel Roy, Stéphane Roy’s brother and executor of the estate.

“Investigations by the Transportation Safety Board and independent experts have uncovered significant negligence by Robinson Helicopter. Without accountability, tragedies like this could happen again.”

• READ MORE: Savoura tomato company president and son missing in helicopter flight

On July 10, 2019, Stéphane Roy and his son were returning from a fishing trip on a privately registered Robinson R44 helicopter when they disappeared, launching an extensive two-week search involving the Canadian Armed Forces, the Sûreté du Québec (SQ), the Canadian Coast Guard and multiple volunteer air search and rescue organizations from Quebec and Ontario.

“The aircraft was found on July 25, 14 days after it was reported missing, in a wooded area near Lac Valtrie, Que.,” a report by the Transportation Safety Board (TSB) states. “The occupants were found dead. There was no fire. The aircraft was destroyed.”

An ensuing investigation by the TSB concluded that the crash was caused by a main rotor blade failure.

In its report, the TSB points out that the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) had already made recommendations in 2008 regarding the main rotor blades after numerous cases of “debonding at the bond joint were discovered during maintenance inspections and visits between July 2006 and January 2007, and four cases of debonding occurred in flight in 2006 and 2007.”

As such, the TSB states, “It is likely that the adhesive failures that appeared gradually over time and a pre-existing manufacturing defect contributed to significantly reducing the stiffness of one of the blades, which caused strong vibrations during the occurrence flight.”

• READ MORE: TSB finds defect in beacon on helicopter that crashed in Quebec, killing Savoura CEO and son

Helicopter company claims there were ‘discrepancies’ in TSB report

On Saturday, the head of Robinson Helicopter Company released a statement to CTV News in response to the Quebec lawsuit.

Smith adds that the company looks forward to “addressing these discrepancies in court.”

The Roy family has called the incident one of “gross negligence,” and laments there have been “numerous tragedies” involving similar aircraft.

“Many families were shattered on that tragic day in July 2019, and we will do everything in our power to ensure these tragedies caused by unacceptable negligence come to an end,” said Roy.

The lawsuit was initially filed in California, U.S., on July 8, 2021, but the company requested to move the case to Quebec.

The request was approved in January 2025 by the California Courts of Appeal.