Insight and Commentary on aviation accidents and the law
In 1994, the FAA — hoping to reduce the number of helicopter tour crashes in Hawaii — promulgated a controversial rule that set minimum altitudes for Hawaiian sight seeing flights.
According to an article appearing this spring in Aviation, Space and Environmental Medicine, after the rule went into effect the overall number of helicopter crashes in Hawaii decreased…
The easy answer: the applicant is the Pilot in Command and is fully responsible for the safe operation of the aircraft, not the FAA check pilot. But what about when the check pilot attempts to simulate an engine failure by chopping the throttle? At that point, hasn’t the check pilot assumed control of the aircraft?
Well, that’s…
Who can be held responsible for compensating the Mountain Lifeflight families, and who is immune from suit?
Maintenance. If faulty maintenance is proven to be the cause of this helicopter crash, the families can recover against the maintenance company, provided that the families can prove that the maintenance company was negligent. There is…
The Federal Tort Claims Act allows citizens who have been injured by the federal government to sue the United States. But there’s an important exception. No suit against the government is allowed when the victim is a service member injured by the negligence of the United States military.
The rule protecting the military is called the Feres Doctrine…