Pilot chopped $3.5M from ’copter biz: suit

A former flight instructor for helicopter-company owner Lesley “Topsy” Taylor took the socialite for a $3.5 million ride, she claims in a new lawsuit that accuses the pilot of treating her company like a personal piggy bank.

Taylor (inset), 75, paid chopper pilot John B. Kjekstad $500,000 a year to run her lower Manhattan-based tour company, Helicopter Flight Services, court papers say.

Yet Kjekstad charged the company more than $3.5 million, including at least $1,300 for luxury goods, the suit in Manhattan Supreme Court says.

Taylor, who was once married to investor George McFadden, claims Kjekstad also took $45,000 from the business in December 2015, telling the bookkeeper to categorize the withdrawal as “hangar construction.” The money was actually used to put an addition on his New Canaan, Conn., residence, the filing alleges.

In 2013, Kjekstad, 54, transferred $750,000 from a business account to his personal account without Taylor’s permission, the suit claims.

“When [Taylor] learned of the substantial with- drawals, [Kjekstad] explained that he needed the funds for remodeling his personal residence and would repay HFS,” the suit says.

The instructor used more than $1.3 million in company funds to purchase a twin-engine helicopter and a jet aircraft for another business venture, according to the suit.

Kjekstad’s attorney, Jon Whitcomb, called the litigation “a power grab.”

“My client was the originator of the company’s concept and Ms. Taylor is merely an investor and a disgruntled one,” Whitcomb told The Post.

“We’re going to counterclaim and fight this lawsuit aggressively,” Whitcomb said.

Taylor’s attorney did not return requests for comment.