Dallas

Funeral Friday for Dallas Firefighter Killed in New York Helicopter Crash

Family and friends on Friday will lay to rest the 26-year-old Dallas firefighter killed in a helicopter crash Sunday in New York City.

A funeral procession for Brian McDaniel began at about 10 a.m. at Sparkman-Crane Funeral Home in East Dallas and was to end at the Coleman Church of Christ in Coleman, Oklahoma.

Brian McDaniel, the Dallas firefighter killed in a NYC helicopter crash March 11, will be laid to rest Friday, March 16. A procession carried McDaniel from the Sparkman-Crane funeral home in Dallas to the Coleman Church of Christ in Coleman, Oklahoma.

A private funeral service and burial are scheduled for about 2 p.m. Friday.

McDaniel and friend Trevor Cadigan, also 26, were among the five people who died after the helicopter in which they were riding went down in the East River.

The medical examiner's office ruled the victims' deaths accidental and said each died from drowning.

Only the helicopter pilot survived.

Firefighters gave a water cannon salute at D/FW airport to the plane delivering the body of Dallas firefighter Brian McDaniel - who was killed in a helicopter crash in New York City.

A United Airlines plane carrying McDaniel's body arrived Tuesday at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport to a water cannon salute from D/FW firefighters.

Several of McDaniel's fellow Dallas Fire-Rescue firefighters met the plane at the gate, and they were joined by D/FW Airport firefighters in paying their respects as the casket draped in an American flag was transferred to a hearse.

A fire engine and ladder truck from the station where McDaniel worked, Station 36, then helped lead a procession from the airport to an East Dallas funeral home.

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Cadigan's family has filed a lawsuit against Liberty Helicopters and others following the deadly crash. The suit calls the passenger harness systems a "death trap" in a water crash.

Liberty Helicopters has referred all inquiries to federal officials.

Firefighters who worked with Brian McDaniel, the Dallas firefighter killed in a helicopter crash in New York City, say it's tough coming back to work at the station and seeing his coat on the wall.
Copyright AP - Associated Press
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