Aviation Accidents: Airplane and Helicopter Crashes
Top rated Attorney Joe Griffith and Joe Griffith Law Firm have experience in the legal fields of personal injury and wrongful death litigation and handle cases involving an aviation accident or airplane, jet plane or helicopter accident. Serious and catastrophic personal injury and wrongful death litigation are a major focus of the law firm's practice. Former federal prosecutor Joseph P. Griffith, Jr. is designated as an AV rated attorney by the prestigious Martindale-Hubbell's attorney rating company, signifying the highest possible ranking for legal ability and ethics as judged by peers in the legal profession. The JGFL firm is dedicated to providing outstanding legal service to each of its clients and will fight to obtain all of the compensation due its clients under the law. Client satisfaction is the law firm's number one goal.
Aviation Accident Background Information
Airplane, jet plane, and helicopter travel have become increasingly
popular in modern society. Daily commutes in a plane or helicopter
are often necessary for the speed and convenience that these types
of travel provide. Most airline passengers take these modes of
transportation for granted because the threat of an accident is
exceedingly rare. However, anyone who has stepped into a cockpit
knows that these marvels of modern technology are exceedingly
complex machines with highly advanced engines, navigation systems,
communications systems, air pressure systems, landing gear systems,
de-icing systems, etc.... They must be well designed, manufactured
to stringent specifications, scrupulously maintained, and
professionally operated. When an airplane, jet plane or helicopter
has a defective design, is improperly manufactured, or negligently
maintained or operated, a serious aviation disaster may occur. When
an aviation accident occurs, each victim generally suffers severe
emotional and physical personal injury or wrongful death. Joe Griffith Law Firm stands ready to assist you and your
loved ones in the event of an aviation disaster.
The Federal Aviation Administration
The Federal Aviation Administration (“FAA”) is the United States
government agency with primary responsibility for the safety of
civil aviation. Strict federal and state laws and regulations have
been promulgated to govern the airline industry and to protect each
passenger from personal injury or wrongful death.
Causes of an Aviation Accident, Airplane or Helicopter Crash
The following is a non-exclusive list of common causes of an
aviation accident, including an airplane, jet plane or helicopter
crash:
- Pilot error or negligence
- Engine failure
- Aircraft structural integrity defect
- Manufacturer’s aircraft design defect
- Runway incursion
- Faulty or defective equipment
- Weather
- Software system failure
- Fueling negligence
- Hydraulic system failure
- Lack of pilot training or supervision
- Turbulence
- Negligence in the repair of the aircraft
- Faulty maintenance of the aircraft
- Defective replacement parts
- Careless approach or landing
- Negligence during a take-off
- Fixed Base Operations (FBO) negligence
- Sudden depressurization
- FAA statutory violations
- Improper storage of cargo
- FAA regulatory violations
- Inadequate flight or pre-flight security
- Defective tires
- Pilot inebriation, intoxication or drunkenness
- Careless passenger screening
- Failure to file a proper flight plan
- Failure to follow Instrument Flight Rules (IFR)
- Negligence of a stewardess or flight attendant
- Flight Service Station (FSS) negligence
- Defective fuel tank
- Air traffic controller carelessness
- Microburst wind shear
- Failure to follow Visual Flight Rules (VFR)
NATIONAL TRANSPORTATION SAFETY BOARD INVESTIGATION
Determining the true cause of a helicopter, jet plane or airplane
accident or crash is difficult. The National Transportation Safety
Board (“NTSB”) is the federal agency in charge of investigating the
cause of an aviation accident. NTSB representatives quickly arrive
at the scene of every airplane or helicopter accident in an effort
to determine the cause thereof. Representatives of the aircraft
manufacturer, carrier, and component part companies usually arrive
at the scene as well in order to obtain evidence in which to mount a
defense. It is critical for an injured victim or relative to hire an
aviation law firm as quickly as possible in order to investigate the
cause of an aviation accident. Besides the NTSB and FAA, depending
on the location and circumstances of an aviation accident, other
agencies may be involved in an airplane crash investigation,
including, but not limited to, the Federal Bureau of Investigation
(“FBI”), Department of Defense (“DOD”), Department of Justice
(“DOJ”), Department of State (“DOS”) and state and foreign
investigative authorities. Victim relief agencies such as the
American Red Cross, Department of Health and Human Services (“HSS”)
and Federal Emergency Management Agency (“FEMA”) may lend support to
those affected by an aviation disaster. While the NTSB issues a
report on probable cause, generally, the cause determinations found
in these reports are not admissible in evidence at trial. In re Air
Crash Disaster at Sioux City, Iowa, on July 19, 1989, 780 F.Supp.
1207 (N.D.Ill. 1991).
See the Top 25 Aviation
Disasters
When the NTSB is notified of a major accident, it launches a “Go
Team,” which varies in size depending on the severity of the
accident and the complexity of the issues involved. The Go Team may
consist of experts in as many as fourteen different specialties,
coordinated by the investigator-in-charge. Each expert manages a
group of other specialists from government agencies and industry in
collecting the facts and determining the conditions and
circumstances surrounding the accident. The investigative groups
formed vary, depending on the nature of the accident, and may look
into areas such as structures, systems, power plants, human
performance, fire and explosion, meteorology, radar data, event
recorders, and witness statements. After an investigation is
completed, a detailed narrative report is prepared that analyzes the
investigative record and identifies the probable cause of the
accident.
AIRPLANE BLACK BOXES
One of the most critical aspects of an aviation accident
investigation is to locate and preserve the airplane’s black box.
There are actually two “black boxes” - one is a flight data recorder
and the other is a cockpit voice recorder. In addition to containing
locator beacons, these instruments record a wide variety of
information, including speed and altitude or the voice
communications within the cockpit. An aviation accident attorney
should be immediately retained to preserve wreckage, acquire radar
and weather data, locate and interview key witnesses, take and
preserve photographs and videotapes, retain expert consultants,
ensure that relevant FAA Air Traffic Control tape recordings are
preserved, protect client rights during initial interviews, identify
legal issues and evaluate the potential liability of responsible
parties.
NON-CARRIERS ARE HELD TO A GENERAL NEGLIGENCE STANDARD
A determination of what laws apply to an aviation accident is
generally governed by whether a private civilian aircraft or a
common carrier aircraft is involved. Private civilian aircraft,
which are not operated as common carriers, are typically governed by
a general negligence standard which requires the use of reasonable
due care in the operation of the aircraft. Long v. Clinton Aviation,
180 F. 2d 665 (10th Cir. 1950) (pilot is required to use that
ordinary care which an experienced pilot under the same or similar
circumstance would use). An owner of a civilian general aviation aircraft may
be liable for an accident, personal injury or wrongful death if
there was negligence in the operation or maintenance of the
aircraft.
COMMERCIAL AIRLINES ARE HELD TO THE HIGHEST STANDARD OF CARE
An airline carrier, such as passenger or commuter airline, owes a
much higher duty to protect its passengers. Because an airline
carrier is in the business of transporting large groups of people,
the law of a common carrier law requires it to use the highest care
to prevent an airplane accident or crash and resulting personal
injury or wrongful death to its passengers. In American Airlines,
Inc. v. United States, 418 F.2d 180 (5th Cir. 1989), the court held
that “American Airlines owed its passengers the highest degree of
care and to be exonerated had to prove that the 'crash could not have
been prevented it by the exercise of the utmost skill and
foresight.’” (emphasis added).
Airlines Operating in
North America
Fact Pattern Examples in an Airplane Crash Case
The following is a discussion of an explosive cause in an air crash
case. It is an excerpt from the case of In re Air Crash Disaster at
Sioux City, Iowa, on July 19, 1989, 1991 WL 279005 (N.D.Ill. 1991),
and contains the district court’s opinion in a pre-trial ruling
wherein defendant McDonnell Douglas had moved to exclude admission
into evidence of prior similar accidents as well as the ostensibly
legal conclusions of the plaintiffs’ experts:
On July 19, 1989, United Airlines Flight 232 crashed at Sioux
City, Iowa, following a total loss of the hydraulic powered
flight controls in the McDonnell Douglas designed and
manufactured DC-10. The DC-10 operated with three separate and
independent hydraulic systems. Each hydraulic system had its own
separate fluids and pumps and was powered by a separate engine.
The three-system design incorporated a degree of redundancy into
the DC-10's hydraulic systems. The failure of any one of the
three hydraulic systems could be compensated for by the
operation of the remaining two systems.
The loss of hydraulic power in Flight 232 occurred as a result
of a catastrophic, uncontained explosion of the DC-10's second
engine, located at the rear of the plane. The engine explosion
occurred as a result of a metallurgical flaw in the fan disk of
the plane's rear engine. The metallurgical flaw caused a
high-energy discharge of engine debris that apparently severed
hydraulic fluid lines running to all three hydraulic systems.
Consequently, the engine explosion triggered a total loss of
hydraulic fluid from all three of the DC-10's hydraulic systems.
The flight crew was unable to manipulate any of the aircraft's
flight controls. The crew maneuvered the plane by using
differential engine power from the DC-10's two remaining engines
and ultimately brought the aircraft in for a crash landing at
Sioux City, Iowa. Of 296 people on board, 112 were killed in the
crash.
The following is a discussion of pre-flight negligence in an air
crash case. It is an excerpt from the case of In re Air Crash
Disaster, 86 F.3d 498 (6th Cir. 1996):
Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashed during takeoff from the
Detroit Metropolitan Airport on August 16, 1987. The aircraft
was an MD-80 model manufactured by McDonnell Douglas. The plane
failed to gain sufficient altitude after takeoff, and struck a
lamppost in the lot of a nearby National Car Rental office. The
impact sheared off part of the wing, and the plane subsequently
crashed into a highway overpass on Middlebelt Road. Evidence at
trial indicated that the aircraft's crew had not properly set
the plane's wing flaps and slats, which are necessary for lift.
Fifteen seconds after takeoff, the plane was forty-two feet
above the ground-according to the standard flight plan, it
should have been at an altitude of 752 feet.
Aircraft Manufacturers
There are many different aircraft manufacturers and aircraft
component part manufacturers, including, but not limited to:
Aero Designs, Aeronca, Aerospatiale, Airbus, Alarus, Avcraft, Aviat,
Beechcraft or Beech Aircraft Corporation, Boeing, British Aerospace,
Bombardier, Cessna, Challenger, Cirrus, Commander, Dassault, Diamond
Aircraft Industries, Eclipse, Embraer, Enstrom, Eurocopter,
Fairchild, Gulfstream, Honeywell, Hughes, Learjet, Liberty,
Lockheed, Luscombe, Maule, McDonnell Douglas, Mitsubishi, Mooney,
North American Navion, Piaggio, Pilatus, Piper, Pitts, Pratt &
Whitney, Rans, Raytheon, Revolution, Robinson, Rockwell, Slingsby,
Socata, and Tiger.
Compensation Caps
When an airline carrier is involved in a crash of an international
flight, a victim’s right of recovery may be subject to international
agreements which limit the amount of compensation available. The
Warsaw Convention and Montreal Agreements or Protocols may limit the
amount of recovery a victim can obtain from an airline unless
reckless conduct is involved. Some airline carriers have agreed to
waive the caps under certain circumstances. In domestic air crashes,
there may be state statutory caps on a victim’s recovery, depending
upon the jurisdiction.
Statutes of Limitation
There are time limits on bringing a personal injury lawsuit in the
state of South Carolina known as statutes of limitations. See S.C.
Code 15-3-530(5); 15-3-535. The statute of limitations for a
personal injury suit governed by South Carolina law is three years.
This generally means that a plaintiff must bring his suit within
three years of an injury-causing accident. Most other states have
similar statutes of limitation. In 1994, Congress passed a federal
statute called the General Aviation Revitalization Act (GARA), which
gave qualifying general aviation manufacturer’s immunity from
certain product liability lawsuits. GARA only protects manufacturers
of aircraft which carry less than twenty passengers and which are
not used in scheduled passenger carrying operations, and it does not
provide protection for manufacturers of commercial airliners. GARA
imposes an 18-year statute of repose which is measured from the date
of delivery of the aircraft to its first purchaser.
Suing the United States Government
The statutes of limitations are different for negligence suits
against the federal government pursuant to the Federal Tort Claims
Act (“FTCA”). Under the FTCA, an administrative tort claim must
generally be presented to the subject federal agency within two
years. Once a timely administrative tort claim has been filed, there
is no statute of limitations on bringing a suit unless the federal
agency denies the claim, in which case a suit must be brought in
federal court within six months after the denial. 28 U.S.C. §
1346(b), 1402, 2401, 2675. An FTCA action is generally available
when the negligence of a government employee, such as an FAA air
traffic controller, acting within the scope of his duties, causes,
in whole or in part, an aviation accident.
Aviation Accident Links
The Joe Griffith Law Firm is a Charleston County, South Carolina (SC) law
firm that concentrates in personal injury and wrongful death
litigation and handles cases involving an aviation accident or
airplane, jet plane or helicopter accident. The JGLF law firm will
investigate the facts, assess your claim, determine which parties
and insurance companies are to be held responsible, organize all of
the details of your case and pursue it vigorously in settlement
negotiations or at trial. If you or your loved ones have a personal
injury or wrongful death case related to an aircraft accident,
please contact the Joe Griffith Law Firm.
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