Jesni Sam, a nurse who survived a helicopter crash that killed her husband hours after their Georgia wedding on May 29, has sued in DeKalb County, naming three defendants: Prestige Helicopters Inc., The Revere LLC and Revere Group LLC.
Lawyers for Sam filed a complaint for damages on Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2026, nearly four months after the crash. She is suing individually and on behalf of the estate of her husband, Dave Fiji, 25.
The suit alleges The Revere and Prestige Helicopters failed to properly evaluate worsening weather and were negligent in allowing the flight to go ahead. The allegations have not been proven in court.
The May 29 crash also killed the pilot, Nikhil Nargundkar, 28. The Robinson R66 went down only minutes after takeoff, in a heavily wooded area not far from the venue.
The Wedding Send-Off
About 400 guests attended the ceremony and reception at The Revere, a luxury wedding and events venue in Dawsonville, Ga. The celebration wrapped up around 9:30 p.m. The Revere arranged the “Helicopter Send-Off,” and Atlanta-based Prestige Helicopters operated it.
The newlyweds were to fly to DeKalb-Peachtree Airport in DeKalb County and spend the night at a downtown Atlanta hotel.
Rain and fog rolled in ahead of the departure, and Dave Fiji questioned whether the flight should happen at all. “He said I wouldn’t fly, we would not fly in this visibility,” George Fiji, the groom’s father, told WSB-TV. Sam later told her father-in-law that the pilot said they would fly at a higher altitude.
The crash occurred at approximately 9:50 p.m., according to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) preliminary report.
Neighbors said the helicopter came down on a 10,000-acre tract owned by the City of Atlanta and managed by the state as a wildlife management area. The Dawson County Sheriff’s Department was dispatched to a report of a possible downed helicopter, and searchers needed time to pinpoint the wreckage, George Fiji said.
Sam was pinned in the debris for nearly six hours before rescuers reached her, her father-in-law said. She regained consciousness beneath the wreckage with her husband lying against her chest, he said, and recognized as a nurse that he had already died.
The lawsuit describes her injuries as “serious injuries.” As of June 1, she was recovering at a metro Atlanta hospital and was expected to be released within days.
What Investigators Have Said
The NTSB is leading the investigation. Early evidence indicated the helicopter struck tall trees before hitting terrain in the wooded area, the agency has said. There was no post-crash fire, and investigators accounted for all of the aircraft’s major components.
As of June 1, an NTSB spokesperson said the agency’s meteorologists were conducting a weather study of the flight, and that preliminary information pointed to the potential for rain showers, low-level clouds and thunderstorms in the vicinity.
The preliminary report, released in late June, found no pre-impact problems with the aircraft and pointed to rain and possible thunderstorms, but did not determine a probable cause. It documented a cloud ceiling near 200 feet above ground level, overcast clouds at about 600 feet, rain and fog, and an aviation weather advisory indicating embedded thunderstorms in the region.
Investigators said the pilot had passed all required flight tests and safety checks and was qualified to fly the helicopter. Records show he earned his instrument helicopter rating in 2023, later received his commercial pilot certificate, and completed training and proficiency checks on the Robinson R44 and R66 in September 2025.
Andy Whitaker, director of operations for Prestige Helicopters, told WTOC the crash was unprecedented for the company, which he said had maintained a spotless flying record for decades. The pilot, he added, had flown that same route several times.
The NTSB says the investigation remains open. Probable cause and any contributing factors will be detailed in a final report expected in 12 to 24 months.
What the Lawsuit Claims
The suit alleges Nargundkar failed to adequately monitor and assess the weather before departure and failed to abort the flight despite low clouds, reduced visibility and rain. He is not named as a defendant.
The suit accuses Prestige Helicopters of inadequate pilot training and supervision and of failing to establish sufficient procedures for canceling flights in unsafe weather. It claims the flight should never have taken place in dangerous weather.
The complaint also faults the venue for lacking proper safety standards and any plan to call off the flight when conditions deteriorated, even though the helicopter lifted off from a helipad on the property. Sam’s attorneys contend the crash could have been prevented and grew out of a series of failures by those who put the couple in the air.
“In a matter of minutes, Jesni went from celebrating the happiest day of her life to experiencing something almost impossible to comprehend,” Andrew Robb, a partner at Robb & Robb LLC, said in a statement.
Robb said the lawsuit is Sam’s effort to obtain answers and accountability for what happened to her and her husband, and that she intends to press for changes so no other newlywed couple endures the same thing.
The Couple and the Firm
Robb & Robb LLC is Kansas City-based. The firm previously represented Vanessa Bryant in litigation over the helicopter crash that killed her husband, NBA star Kobe Bryant, their 13-year-old daughter, Gianna, and several others.
The couple met more than a decade before the wedding, through church connections between South Carolina and Georgia. Dave Fiji had dreamt of flying since he was 10 years old and was working as a first officer for Endeavor Air, a Delta Air Lines subsidiary.
