Most of the families of the 228 passengers who were aboard Flight 447 filed suit in the United States. The reason they chose to file suit in the United States was simple. The courts of other countries provide little compensation to those who have lost loved ones due to the negligence of another. And resolving cases in other
United Flight 935: Airline’s Obligation to Compensate Passengers Injured by Turbulence
At least 10 people aboard United Flight 935 were hurt when the aircraft encountered severe turbulence. Is the airline responsible for compensating its injured passengers?
Because Flight 935 was an international flight, a treaty known as the Montreal Convention governs the passengers’ claims. The Montreal Convention makes the airline liable for any injuries suffered on board the aircraft due
Concorde Trial: Criminal Prosecution of Chief Engineer Not in Best Interests of Safety
Ten years ago, an Air France Concorde SST departing from Charles de Gaulle Airport ran over a strip of metal on the runway. One of the Concorde’s tires exploded. A chunk of the debris from the tire punctured the Concorde’s fuel tank. Fuel leaked from the tank, and into an engine. The ensuing fire and engine failure brought down the aircraft. 113 people were killed.
The Crash Was Avoidable
The metal strip fell onto the runway from a Continental Airlines DC-10. Had Continental’s mechanics attached it properly, it wouldn’t have fallen off. Continental’s maintenance practices were sloppy.
It is not unusual for airplane tires to rupture during takeoff for one reason or another. On most airliners, tire blow-outs pose no serious safety threat. That’s not the case with the Concorde. Unlike other aircraft, the Concorde’s fuel tanks are positioned directly over the tires. The tanks are therefore at risk of being ruptured if a tire explodes. Furthermore, the aircraft’s engines are positioned so th
at any fuel from a rupture could easily start a fire. That makes the Concorde design suspect.
This wasn’t the first time a blown tire ruptured a Concorde’s fuel tank. In fact, there was a string of previous incidents. So the potential for disaster was obvious. Nonetheless, Air France, as well as the Concorde’s manufacturer, chose to simply ignore the problem and hope for the best.
It was a bad decision.
The Criminal Trial
A criminal trial began in France in February. Yesterday, French prosecutors asked that Henri Perrier, the engineer who most refer to as the “father” of the Concorde, be sentenced to jail, but that the sentence be suspended. (Perrier is third from left in this 1969 photo.) Prosecutors asked for the same for the two Continental Airlines mechanics whose sloppy maintenance allowed the metal strip to end up on the runway.
Some suggest the trial is a colossal waste of time and effort. What, after all, is the point? How will the trial enhance aviation safety? Certainly, it won’t help the families at all, will it?
No, it will not. In fact, such criminal prosecutions actually impede safety. If the mechanics and engineers who are involved in an aircraft accident investigation need to be concernedContinue Reading Concorde Trial: Criminal Prosecution of Chief Engineer Not in Best Interests of Safety
Foreign Airline Crashes Predominate
Counting today’s Air India crash, the last 11 airline accidents resulting in passenger fatalities have all involved foreign airlines (fatalities in parenthesis):
2010:
- May 22 – Air India Express Flight 812 at Mangalore International Airport (158)
- May 17 – Pamir Airways Flight 112, Afghanistan (43)
- May 12 – Afriqiyah Airways Flight 771 at Tripoli International
American Airlines Flight 49: Fume Events are Real
A cabin suddenly fills with fumes. Passengers get ill. The fumes eventually clear. But for some, the symptoms persist long after the flight is over. Others will first develop symptoms weeks or months later, and may not even relate their symptoms to their flight. These passengers are all the victims of what has become known as a "fume
Suing the Foreign Air Carrier in the United States
Other countries severely limit compensation that may be awarded in wrongful death lawsuits arising from airline accidents. For example, many other countries do not allow families to be compensated for loss of a loved one’s "care, comfort, or society." As a result, in almost all situations, the best venue for a family’s lawsuit against an airline
NTSB Finds Probable Cause of Crash of Continental (Colgan) Flight 3407: No Surprises
Exosphere3d’s Animation of US Airways Flight 1549: Courtroom-Ready
I blogged about Scene Systems’ animation of Flight 1549’s landing in the Hudson here back in March. Great effort, but I noted that it would take hundreds more hours of work before it could be used in court. That’s because it did not appear that the animation accounted for and synchronized all the available data
First Air France Flight 447 Lawsuit: Questions and Answers
The families of Michael and Anne Harris, the American couple on board Air France Flight 447, filed suit this week in Houston federal court. It’s the first lawsuit arising from the crash. The most frequently asked questions about this suit are:
Question: Aren’t the families jumping the gun? The 
black boxes haven’t yet been recovered, and may never be. For
FAA To Allow Boeing To Self-Certify Its Aircraft Designs
Aviation manufacturers have long argued that victims should not be permitted to sue for aircraft design defects because, before any manufacturer’s aircraft leaves the ground, its design has to be approved and certified by the FAA. If the aircraft’s design is good enough for the FAA’s engineers, they argue, it should be good enough for the court system. Judges