KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- A federal judge will rule in coming weeks whether the families of two Tennessee National Guard members can sue the makers of a helicopter in which the soldiers died.
According to the Knoxville News Sentinel (https://bit.ly/1aHBlmq ), the case involves a 2010 crash of a Kiowa OH-58D Warrior helicopter in Iraq.
The lawsuit was filed by the mother of Capt. Marcus Ray Alford of Knoxville, who was 28, and the husband of 25-year-old Chief Warrant Office 2 Billie Jean Grinder from Gallatin.
Bell Helicopter Textron Inc. and suppliers to the company are named as defendants in the $80 million lawsuit.
Attorneys for the companies said in a court filing they are protected from the lawsuit because it occurred in a theater of war.
