Aviation Law Monitor : Aviation Lawyer & Attorney : Michael Danko Law Firm : California Airplane & Helicopter Crashes : Aviation Law Monitor

EMS helicopter crash cases aren't easy.  A lawyer representing a victim's family ought to have experience in helicopter crash cases.  If he doesn't, he should bring into the case a lawyer who does.  What he should not do, obviously, is make up for lack of experience by bribing the judge. 

It's shocking to think that a lawyer would ever bribe a judge.  But that's what Texas lawyers Jim Solis and Marc Rosenthal did.   The judge admits it.  So does Solis.  They bribed the judge for favorable pre-trial rulings, and then, after getting those rulings, they settled the helicopter crash case, obtaining $15 million for the families involved. Out of the settlement, the attorneys ended up with a $5.2 million fee.

Now the attorneys are being sued by their clients. The clients want that $5.2 million back. According to the lawsuit:

Plaintiffs are innocent and without prior knowledge of Defendants' criminal acts. Not only did Defendant breach their fiduciary duties to their clients, but in doing so they dishonored the memories of Michael T. Sanchez and Raul Garcia.

Under the law of many states, a lawyer who violates legal or ethical rules can be required to forfeit his or her fee. 

But even if legally entitled to the fee, are plaintiffs morally entitled to it?  After all, how were the families harmed by the lawyers' scheme? The families ended up with a settlement which, presumably, they found acceptable.

Families who lose loved ones in a helicopter or other crash sue for money.  No doubt about that. But perhaps more importantly, victims' families sue for justice.  They pay their attorneys to expose wrongdoing and hold accountable those responsible for an accident.  Putting aside all else, the attorneys in this case simply didn't do that job. The Sanchez and Garcia families did not get what they paid for.  

The case is Sanchez v. Rosenthal et al.

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Running out of gas is a leading cause of piston aircraft engine failures. So you'd think that pilots would have zero tolerance for the shoddy fuel gauges installed in many aircraft, such as the ones installed in the Cirrus SR22.  But instead, they tend to make excuses for the manufacturers. "It would be too expensive to make gauges that work." Or, "you shouldn't trust a fuel gauge anyway." Or, my favorite:

Well, you know, the regulations require that the gauge be accurate only when reading empty."

That last one makes the least sense of all. A pilot doesn't need a gauge to tell him his tanks have just reached "empty." The aircraft has another way of informing the pilot the very moment that happens.

I don't know how this stuff about the regulations started.  But I've heard it from dozens of pilots over the years.  Even from those who work for manufacturers, and so should know better. 

The Regulations Do Not Say that the Fuel Gauge Must be Accurate "Only When Reading Zero"

Most aircraft carry "unusable fuel."  For example, perhaps there are three gallons that sit in a fuel line that can't be pumped to the engine. So while the aircraft carries 53 gallons of fuel on board, only 50 are "usable." The federal aviation regulations, not surprisingly, require that the gauge read "zero" when there are three gallons left on the aircraft, since that's when the engine will stop. 

Each fuel quantity indicator must be calibrated to read "zero" during level flight when the quantity of fuel remaining in the tank is equal to the unusable fuel supply . . ."

Put another way, the gauge must read "zero" when there is no usable fuel on board. But it doesn't follow that when there is usable fuel on board, the gauge need not be accurate. 

The Gauge Must Be Accurate At All Fuel Levels.

The regulations require the gauge to show the quantity of usable fuel in each tank "during flight."  It doesn't matter whether there is a quarter tank, a half tank, or a full tank of usable fuel.  The gauge must indicate the quantity accurately. The only time the gauge need not be accurate is when the aircraft is sitting on the ground.

If a fuel indicating system does not comply with the regulations, it is defective. Plain and simple.

The relevant part of the aviation regulations is as follows:

§ 23.1337 Powerplant instruments installation.

     Fuel quantity indication. There must be a means to indicate to the flightcrew members the quantity of usable fuel in each tank during flight. An indicator calibrated in appropriate units and clearly marked to indicate those units must be used. In addition: [] Each fuel quantity indicator must be calibrated to read "zero" during level flight when the quantity of fuel remaining in the tank is equal to the unusable fuel supply. . . 

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After a helicopter accident, many airplane pilots are quick to conclude that the helicopter pilot violated one aviation regulation or another.  But the laws that airplane pilots know so well do not always apply to helicopters. Rather, helicopters operate largely under their own set of rules. Some of the differences between the rules applicable to airplanes and helicopters are:

Minimum Altitudes. Airplanes must stay 500 feet above any person and 1000 feet above any person or building in a populated area.  Flying any lower is a regulatory violation.  But helicopters can get as close to a building or person as they want, as long as the flight poses no "hazard to persons or property on the surface." 

Minimum Fuel. Airplanes must carry enough fuel to reach their planned landing site, then 30 minutes thereafter.  If it's a night flight, airplanes must carry 45 minutes of extra fuel.  Helicopters are allowed to fly with a smaller fuel reserve -- 20 minutes worth, day or night. 

Traffic Patterns. When approaching an airport, airplanes are supposed to fly in the designated traffic pattern.  But helicopters are expected to "avoid the flow of fixed wing aircraft."  That means helicopters are to take an alternate routing when there are airplanes in the area -- a routing which would be unacceptable for airplanes.  

Visibility. Except when on an instrument flight plan, airplanes cannot fly unless the weather conditions allow a certain minimum visibility.  For example, in airspace outside of air traffic control jurisdiction, airplane pilots may not operate unless the weather is clear enough to see at least 1 mile ahead of them.  But in that situation, there is no minimum visibility requirement for helicopters.  Rather, helicopter pilots can fly in that same airspace as long as they stay out of any clouds. 

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