Insight and Commentary on aviation accidents and the law
Today a French court of appeals reversed the conviction for criminal manslaughter against the Continental Airlines mechanic involved in the Air France Concorde crash.
That brings the criminal proceedings to a close 12 years after the airliner went down. I wrote here that the proceedings would do nothing for the families. To the extent that the…
Foreign countries routinely bring criminal charges against pilots after an accident. But in the US, criminal charges are very rare. And that’s a good thing because "criminalizing negligence" usually does little to promote safety.
But perhaps there are exceptions.
Pilot Steven Fay bought his 1960 Cessna in June 2010. He crashed it…
In many countries, criminal prosecution of those involved in aviation accidents is the rule, not the exception. For example, the French courts began a criminal investigation almost immediately after the crash of Air France Flight 447. The Indonesian legal system convicted a Garuda Airlines 737 pilot of negligence and sentenced him to two years in prison following a 2007…