Airplane Accidents

The crash of a commercial airliner is one of the world’s most complex tragedies. Establishing the cause of commercial plane crashes is a time-intensive, technical process that involves the National Transportation Safety Board, Federal Aviation Administration and independent investigators working on behalf of victims, their families, commercial carriers and aircraft manufacturers.

After an Airline Accident

After a plane crashes, the airline’s insurance company will contact survivors or victims’ families. The insurer may offer a settlement and may also offer a cash advance to defray immediate costs resulting from the accident.

Survivors or victims’ families should not accept any offers or sign any documents before speaking to an attorney who is knowledgeable in aviation cases.

Accepting a settlement from an aviation insurer may have significant adverse consequences to the releasing party. The laws pertaining to settlements differ from state to state and can produce dramatically different results. In some states, a release given in favor of a liable party can significantly limit pursuit of claims against other potential defendants. In some instances a settlement operates as an offset or deduction against further damages. Furthermore, in most aviation releases the insurers will certainly seek to include their other insured interests. Some of these insured entities may be jointly liable and owe the releasing parties additional damages. By signing a release that includes other potentially liable parties, the releasing party may be forfeiting claims against those other parties and be unable to secure additional compensation. This is a very complex area of the law and no release should be considered without first speaking with a qualified attorney.

Protections under the Law

In 1996, after the TWA crash that killed 230 people off Long Island, Congress passed the Aviation Disaster Family Assistance Act. This law requires that the families of airline accident victims be treated with care and respect.

Here are the key points:
* Family members should be given time to notify other relatives before passengers’ names are made public
* Airlines must offer crisis counseling
* Airlines must make hotel rooms and food available
* Airlines must help familys retrieve dental records and X-rays to identify victims
* Airlines must provide transportation to and from the crash site
* Airlines should consult family members about a memorial

In an airplane crash not involving an airline or other common carrier, the legal rules are usually very similar to those of an automobile accident. Unlike airline common carriers, which are held to a higher standard of care, owners and operators of private aircraft are required to exercise ordinary care in operating an aircraft.

If an airline crash involves a common carrier, the right to recover damages depends upon whether the flight was domestic (within the United States) or international. International flights and the domestic portions of international flights are covered by two international agreements, the Warsaw Convention and the Montreal Protocol. Under these international agreements, the airlines are held strictly liable for injuries to passengers. This means that passengers on international flights and the domestic portions of international flights need not prove negligence in order to recover damages if an airline accident occurs. However, these agreements limit the amount of liability per passenger ($75,000 under the Montreal Protocol) unless the injured party can prove "willful misconduct" on behalf of the airline.

Because of the $75,000 limit on damages imposed by the Warsaw Convention-Montreal Protocol, injured passengers (or those bringing suit on their behalf) may seek to show that an accident was caused by "willful conduct" on behalf of the airline, making the liability limits of the Warsaw Convention-Montreal Protocol inapplicable. For example, in the case of the bombing of a Pan American flight over Lockerbie, Scotland in 1988, a United States federal court held that the $75,000 limit did not apply because the failure of the airline to comply with anti-terrorist security procedures constituted "willful misconduct."

For cases not involving strict liability, proving negligence on the part of employees of the airline, the manufacturer of the aircraft, its component parts, or maintenance crews is difficult, particularly since records, data, and the cause of the crash may be inconclusive. In order to prove negligence or product defect, Williams & Moore, P.A. must undertake an exhaustive review of all factors involved in the accident. There can be many causes of an aircraft accident, though usually the first cause examined is whether there was pilot error, defective design or manufacture of the aircraft, failure to adequately maintain or repair the aircraft, failure of one or more of the component parts of the aircraft, and extreme weather conditions.

In all airplane accident cases it is essential that measures be taken promptly to preserve evidence, investigate the accident in question, and to enable physicians or other expert witnesses to thoroughly evaluate any injuries. If you or a loved one is a victim of an airplane accident, call Williams & Moore, P.A. now at (866) 258-6700. The initial consultation is free of charge, and if we agree to accept your case, we will work on a contingent fee basis, which means we get paid for our services only if there is a monetary award or recovery of funds. Don’t delay! You may have a valid claim and be entitled to compensation for your injuries, but a lawsuit must be filed before the statute of limitations expires.