Insight and Commentary on aviation accidents and the law
Clients often ask: "Shouldn’t we wait for the National Transportation Safety Board to finish its report before deciding whether to bring a lawsuit?" Sometimes, that makes sense. But most of the time, waiting is not in the client’s best interests. Here are four reasons not to wait:
1. The NTSB’s Findings are Seldom Unbiased. The NTSB…
Two months ago, Scene Systems — a litigation support firm — released its animation of Flight 1549’s crash into the Hudson. I posted here that, in all likelihood, the animation would not be admissible in court. The legal objection would be that the animation “lacked foundation.” For example, without information from the Airbus’ black boxes…
What does the aviation accident lawyer need to prove in order to win a "design defect" lawsuit against the manufacturer of the aircraft that injured his client?
It varies from state to state. But it’s never enough simply to prove that the aircraft‘s design caused the accident or injury. The victim’s lawyer always has to…
Right after the crash of Flight 3407 at Buffalo, investigators focused on the aircraft’s deicing system. The question, as explained by former CNN reporter and pilot Miles O’Brien, was whether ice had accumulated on the plane’s wings faster than the de-icing system could remove it, leading to an aerodynamic “stall,” or loss of lift.
But as the investigation progressed, it began to look as though, just before the pilot lost control of the aircraft, the nose of the plane pitched up — not down as usually happens when ice overwhelms an aircraft. That raised an almost unthinkable possibility: gross pilot error. When an aircraft getsContinue Reading Continental (Colgan) Flight 3407: Law Firms Take Different Tacks
Most victims of a helicopter or airplane accident can’t afford to pay aviation attorneys an hourly rate to investigate the cause of the crash or to take an aviation lawsuit to trial. For these people, the doors of the courthouse would be essentially closed were it not for the contingency fee agreement. The contingency fee…
Scene System’s animation of the crash of US Airways Flight 1549 is a viral hit. The litigation support firm combined available ATC audio tapes, flight track information, and an on-scene photograph into a great recreation. This is the exactly the type of animation used in court to help juries understand the details of an aviation…