Airplane Accidents – A Personal Injury View
You may be thinking that you are unlikely to ever be in a plane crash. Seen them in movies and videos and it would be too much to occur to you in real life. Think Again, as we are all bound to know someone who has been affected by an airplane related accident at some point in our lives. Indeed, one of the most feared phobias the fear of flying is more than just paranoia. An airplane accident unlike an auto accident is all the more risky. Travelling at almost 7 – 8 times the speed and many more times the height, a mid – air accident is something which may scar you for life, and that too if you are lucky. Additionally, people may be injured and property damaged on the ground from flying debris or other airplane related negligence.
Liabilities
Within the framework of federal, state and international laws regarding aviation travel there are many entities who may be found liable depending upon the circumstances. An Airplane crash generally occurs because of the following few factors
- Fault of the Pilot
- Equipment and / or carrier manufacture defects
- Negligence towards control of air traffic
- Engine failures
- Weather and turbulence
Liability of Airlines – the airline or passenger carrier may be found liable for the accident if any fault in maintenance of the aircraft, imperfect training of pilots and other personnel, and in case of a commercial carrier which takes fees in exchange for a safe and smooth trip across
Liability of Airport – although airplane accidents occurring as a result of negligence at the airport terminal are not as severe when compared to mid – air accidents, they are more significant. In case there is improper maintenance of facilities which leads to airplane injury or because of negligence of ground control staff or air traffic control. Even in case of defective ramps which may lead to injury of passenger will bring liability to the airports.
Conflict of Laws
Aviation travel involves movement across state and national boundaries. This puts the airline industry under scrutiny from legal jurisdictions of different states and countries and an international law which governs global aviation travel. Hence during airplane accidents there might occur a conflict of the different laws.
Filing Suit
Airline accidents can be devastating to a passenger and his family & friends. Hence a person injured in the accident or the next of kin of a person deceased in the airplane accident may file a suit or bring in a claim. Damages arising from the accident, loss of wages and other bills such as medical, healthcare etc can be claimed. In case of a deceased person the next of kin can claim compensation equivalent to the loss of support of the deceased person.
An experienced attorney is needed as technicalities of an aviation setting may prove difficult to understand. Further more evidence regarding accidents needs to be immediately collected and analyzed to come to a conclusion before there is some natural displacement of tangible evidence. Lawsuits are also required to be filed within a fixed time period from the event of the airplane accident; hence immediately hiring expert attorney is all the more important.
Finding expert attorneys is not easy considering the severity of the damages and the legal uniqueness and skills necessary to bring such a case into fruition. A good alternative is to search for attorneys willing to accept contingency fees. A contingency fee means that the attorney will take a fixed percentage of any monetary benefit awarded and in case you lose the case no money would be charged.
