Relatives of a cameraman who died in a helicopter crash during filming of a James Cameron documentary are suing a production company.

Mike deGruy was one of two victims who were killed in the accident in Australia last year (12) while working on Cameron's DeepSea Challenge film.

Cameron told of his heartache after the tragedy, referring to deGruy and the other victim, producer Andrew Wight, as "like family to me" but now his production company, Lightstorm Entertainment, is facing a lawsuit from deGruy's family.

Court papers were filed at Los Angeles Superior Court on Monday (04Nov13) in which the relatives demand unspecified damages.