The wife of the man who died in an eastern Iowa helicopter crash while filming a movie has filed a “wrongful-death” lawsuit. Fifty-year-old Roland Schlotzhauer of Lenexa, Kansas — a cameraman working on the movie — died after the helicopter crashed outside of Walford. His wife, Kathryn, has filed a suit against the two men who survived the crash. Producer Tony Wilson and pilot Richard Green suffered serious injuries. Their companies are also named in the suit.
The executive producer and star of the film — Sean Astin — is also being sued. The cameraman’s wife contends the crash could have been avoided if the movie’s producers had checked out the scene first for power lines. Investigators say the helicopter clipped some power lines and that could’ve caused the crash.
The dead man’s wife has also sued East Central Iowa Rural Electric Cooperative, the company that owns the power lines. Her 100-page lawsuit, filed in Polk County, names 19 defendants. The movie on which Schlotzhauer was working is called “The Final Season” and it chronicles the last year of baseball for Norway High.