Accidents - Airline & Airplane Accidents

Is airline travel safe?

There are risks that we all take in our every day lives, and relatively speaking commercial airline travel is generally safe. Yes, accidents do occur, and people are injured or killed in domestic plane crashes. From 1982 to 1998, a period of 17 years, there were a total of 8,109,000,000 passengers boarding planes. During that same time period, there were 2,211 fatalities, and 348 serious injuries. This amounts to a 0.00003% chance of being seriously injured or killed in a commercial aviation accident. This is far less than any other mode of transportation. [Source: NTSB, Passenger Injuries and Injury Rates, 1982 through 1998.]

How do I get to the site of a plane crash?

The airline is required under the Aviation Disaster Family Assistance Act of 1996 to help families travel to the accident location and to provide for the care of the family while staying at the site. A toll-free number must also be provided to handle inquiries for victims' families.

What support and assistance is available to the families of victims of airline disasters?

The Aviation Disaster Family Assistance Act of 1996 also gives responsibility to various entities to provide support and assistance for families of airline accident victims. This includes counseling, memorial services and a variety of other victim support services.

Requirements that must be followed by the airline are:

Although the Family Assistance Act doesn’t apply to general aviation (non-carrier) accidents, smaller commuter and commercial air operators may have their own assistance plans.

In addition, the Red Cross or other state-based agencies may become involved.

What financial assistance might I find in our time of need?

Financial assistance is available from a variety of sources, including life insurance benefits and possibly workers’ compensation benefits.

In some cases, airlines have agreed to provide a pre-determined advance payment to injured victims or their estate. Advance payment will not be translated as an admission of guilt, and may be used to offset damages assessed in a claim against the airline.

Financial institutions, such as banks, may contact you to make a loan secured by anticipated payoff of your claim. Some people may try to take advantage of you because you are vulnerable, and it is wise to first have an attorney go over the terms and conditions involved.

I have lost a family member in a plane crash, but the body has not yet been identified. How do I get a death certificate?

The local medical examiner is responsible for issuing a death certificate. You must have this document to handle the affairs of the victim's estate. If the local medical examiner is not able to help you, an experienced airline aviation lawyer should be able to address this issue.

Are there limitations on contact between the airline and victims' families following a plane crash?

The Aviation Disaster Family Assistance Act of 1996 prohibits unsolicited communications from attorneys, insurance companies or any air carrier attorney to victims or their families for 30 days following a disaster. If you are contacted during this time, you should report it to the appropriate bar association.

What is a ‘Plaintiff's Steering Committee’?

When an airline crashes, and multiple injuries and/or fatalities occur, there are many different people with similar claims against similar defendants. Through "multi-district litigation", common issues of those claims can be combined into one court.

The individual plaintiff's lawyers, or some of them, direct the multi-district litigation through a committee of attorneys known as a "Plaintiff's Steering Committee".

International Airline Accidents

Did you have a loved one killed in an airline disaster? Will you and your family collect millions of dollars? Does it matter if it was an international flight?

These are the questions most people have about international airline accidents.

Everyone's case is different. Federal courts in the United States will not allow a class-action suit to be brought for an airline crash because the damages suffered by each person are different. Anyone who may have a claim for an airline accident should seek the advice of his or her own attorney.

Airline defense attorneys have defended the airlines and their insurers against various claims resulting from wrongdoing on international airline flights that do not qualify as an actual "accident." The airline attorneys take the position that various mishaps or illnesses outside their control are not "accidents."

Emotional distress that did not result from physical injury is one of the claims the airline attorneys are defending. The United States Supreme Court has decided this year that an "accident" for purposes of the international airline flights means "an unexpected or unusual event or happening which is external to the passenger."

Therefore, international airline victims will not be able to win claims against the airlines for emotional damages where there is no physical injury or for accidents not caused by airline staff, such as illness or passenger transgressions.

To show how confusing the laws can be, an appeals court in California decided last year that victims on domestic flights can claim damages for incidents on domestic airline flights that don't involve "accidents": just the opposite ruling as international airline flights.

An American plaintiff is heard in a U.S. court, which must use "choice of law" principles to decide which state laws will apply to the victim's claim. Airline lawyers try to convince the courts to apply the laws of more lenient states to their client's cases.

They struggle for legal arguments to justify applying generous states' laws to win the cases. Only by retaining a competent attorney experienced in airline accidents will ensure that the victim is treated fairly in the courts.

If you, or a loved one, has been involved in any type of airline accident in Kansas or Missouri, please do not hesitate to contact our office for a free consultation and case evaluation.

Also see:

Wrongful Death

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