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A bride spent six terrifying hours trapped beneath the body of her newlywed husband after what was meant to be a dream wedding ended in a devastating helicopter crash.
Jesni Sam has filed a wrongful death and negligence lawsuit in DeKalb County State Court in Georgia on behalf of herself and her late husband, Dave Fiji. The lawsuit names Prestige Helicopters Inc. and The Revere wedding venue as defendants. Fiji and Sam were married on May 29 at The Revere in Dawsonville, around 60 miles northeast of Atlanta.
As part of their wedding celebrations, the newlyweds took part in a helicopter send-off offered by the venue from its on-site helipad. However, according to the lawsuit, the venue and helicopter company chose to proceed with the flight despite what were described as dangerous and worsening weather conditions.
The lawsuit states that within minutes of take-off, the helicopter crashed into trees in the Dawson Forest Wildlife Management Area.
Fiji and the helicopter pilot, Nikhil Nargundkar, were killed in the crash. Sam survived but became trapped inside the badly damaged wreckage. According to her lawyers, she remained trapped for almost six hours, with the body of the man she had married only hours earlier lying on top of her.
The newlywed suffered what her lawyers described as serious physical injuries, including permanent scarring and continuing headaches. Attorneys from Missouri-based law firm Robb & Robb argued in the lawsuit that the tragedy could have been prevented and accused the defendants of negligence for failing to properly consider the hazardous weather conditions.
The lawsuit says the National Weather Service had issued an alert warning of thunderstorms, low clouds and fog in the area. Despite those conditions, the pilot allegedly proceeded with the flight. The National Transportation Safety Board has not yet established an official cause of the crash. However, it said there were no known mechanical problems with the helicopter and highlighted the poor weather conditions.
Fiji was also a pilot and reportedly questioned Nargundkar about the limited visibility before the flight, according to his mother, Phebah Fiji, who spoke to local Fox affiliate WAGA. Nargundkar reportedly remained confident that the weather would not prevent the flight.
“With [Nargundkar’s] confidence, and since Dave doesn’t fly helicopters, he went with his perspective... since it’s just a 20- to 25-minute flight,” Fiji’s mother said.
Robb & Robb previously represented the family of basketball star Kobe Bryant in a lawsuit following the 2020 helicopter crash that killed Bryant, his daughter and several others, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Andrew Robb, a partner at Robb & Robb, said that Jesni’s life changed dramatically within minutes, going from celebrating her wedding day to facing an unimaginable tragedy.
The lawsuit is seeking answers and accountability over the crash and the events that led to it. Sam’s legal action argues that the circumstances surrounding the flight should be examined so that similar tragedies can be prevented from happening to other newlywed couples in the future.
