Private Plane Lawsuits

Private plane and helicopter lawsuits are complex and require the attention to detail and aggressive advocacy for which the Potts Law Firm is known.

Helicopter Accidents

Helicopters are very difficult to fly. The typical helicopter flight mission places an already difficult-to-fly aircraft into an even more difficult and hazardous environment. The lower flight altitude of helicopters as compared with fixed-wing aircraft brings them in closer proximity to on-ground hazards such as radio control towers, utility wires, mountains, or tall buildings. As a result of the powerful impact forces involved in a helicopter crash, the likelihood of those occupants’ sustaining severe and disabling injuries and fatalities is substantial.

Helicopter crashes within the United States are occurring with alarming frequency. One-half (1/2) of the entire worldwide civil helicopter fleet operates in the United States, and thirty-six percent (36%) of all helicopter crashes occur here. From 2001 to 2005, the accident rate for civil helicopter use per 100,000 flight hours was forty percent (40%) higher than that for general aviation fixed-wing aircraft. The helicopter industry itself has acknowledged that the current helicopter accident rate is “excessive and unsustainable.”

The Potts Law Firm currently represents the family of a man whose helicopter crashed near Las Cruces New Mexico and El Paso Texas during a basic training exercise.

Helicopter Touring Industry – Over the last decade there has been a disturbingly high rate of fatal helicopter crashes involving site-seeing tours.

News Gathering Operations – There is a recurring safety problem involving numerous news helicopters involved in a police chase or other on-ground events simultaneously having the pilots report live while in flight.

Air Ambulance Services – In one ten (10) month period alone between December 2007 and October 2008, there were thirteen (13) helicopter air ambulance crashes which resulted in thirty-five (35) deaths.

Utility Wire Inspections – Helicopters are being used increasingly in the utilities industry for the inspection and maintenance of their transmission lines.

Search and Rescue Operations – Helicopters are the aircraft of choice in the rescuing of stranded snow skiers, adventurers lost in the wilderness, or people trapped on disabled sailing vessels.

Law Enforcement and Border Patrol Usage – Given the uncertain unanticipated flight path upon which such helicopters may embark, a separate spotter or observer is a must.

Private Transportation – Use of helicopters for private transportation has increased in recent years given the congested nature of many urban areas.

Airplane Accidents

Private plane crash cases are complex and challenging. Private aircraft do not have the “black boxes” which commercial planes do. In addition, regulation and enforcement of maintenance and certification procedures are not nearly as rigorous for private aircraft as for commercial aircraft.

General aviation refers to all flights other than military and scheduled airline and cargo flights. The majority of air traffic in the United States falls into this category. Most of the airports in the United States, around 5,300, serve general aviation exclusively. According to the NTSB, in 2009 over twenty million flight hours were flown by general aviation aircraft. In that same year, 1,474 accidents were reported involving general aviation aircraft.

Two major manufacturers produce most of the large commercial civilian aircraft flown today: Boeing in the United States, and Airbus in Europe. In the United States civil aviation incidents are investigated by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). Families involved in air crashes are often astonished to learn that they or their representatives can have no role whatsoever in the crash investigation. Compounding this disadvantage of initial inaccessibility is that parties potentially responsible for the crash (who are usually the defendants) are invited by the NTSB to be party participants in the agency’s investigation.

The most common causes of aircraft crashes include the following:

• Defective Design and/or Materials
• In-Flight Instrument or Avionics Failure
• Negligent Maintenance or Repair
• Pilot Error
• Air Traffic Control Errors
• In-Flight Icing
• Fueling Errors