Air travel has never been safer than it is today. However, aviation accidents still happen, and when they do, they can be fatal.
In the wake of such a shocking event, you may not realize that you do have rights, and you do have the opportunity to hold responsible parties accountable for their negligence.
Below, we discuss what you should know after being involved in an aviation accident.
Aviation Accidents Are Complex
The first thing any aviation accident victim must understand is that these cases are complicated and require the experienced guidance of a seasoned legal professional. In commercial aviation cases, airlines and major aircraft manufacturers have near-limitless legal resources at their disposal. Anyone who brings a claim against them needs an equally experienced team of aviation accident attorneys on their side. General aviation cases involving small planes can be just as exhaustive and complex as commercial aviation disasters, often requiring technical expertise to investigate and identify the causes or underlying factors.
Why Work with an Aviation Attorney?
The complexity of aviation accident claims does not mean that victims face impossible odds; it just means these cases require having a representative that understands what it takes to win.
If you need to pursue an aviation accident lawsuit, your search for legal representation should focus exclusively on attorneys with extensive experience successfully resolving aviation cases of all kinds. A seasoned aviation attorney will have a firm grasp of:
- The dynamics of flight
- The mechanics of aircraft operations
- The various causes of aviation crashes
- All nuances of aviation law
- The investigation process
- Design and manufacturing defects
- Maintenance negligence
- Flight crew negligence
- Corporate negligence
You also want a legal team that understands state, federal, and international aviation law as most flights cross state lines and many involve international travel. Numerous complex decisions are required to maximize recovery for each person injured or the family of someone killed in an aviation accident, so make sure you focus your search for an attorney on those with a proven track record in similar cases.
How Baum Hedlund’s Experience Comes Into Play
Our aviation attorneys (including former pilots and an aircraft mechanic) have successfully represented nearly 800 people injured or killed in hundreds of aviation accidents of every kind since the 1970s.
At Baum Hedlund, decades of experience handling aviation accident cases have shown us that passengers represented by experienced attorneys advocating on their behalf receive far more compensation than passengers attempting to resolve claims on their own. Despite assurances from insurance adjusters and the airlines’ attorneys that they want to quickly and fairly compensate the families for their losses, it has become clear that an insurance adjuster’s main concern is for his or her firm, the airline, and its insurance carrier, as they urge a quick settlement or threaten to prolong the process if their offer is refused.
Many people feel that they are victimized twice by the aviation industry: once by the tragic event and then again by unnecessarily being put through the grueling process of prolonged litigation. We work hard to ease our clients through this most difficult time by assisting them with all aspects of the litigation and by making ourselves available at all times to answer questions. We make it a priority to hold the negligent parties fully accountable by leveling the playing field and fighting for a full measure of justice.
Baum Hedlund’s approach to aviation accident claims:
- We conduct our own investigation in parallel to that of the hard-working investigators of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).
- We analyze the NTSB investigation.
- We consult with pilots experienced in the type of aircraft that crashed and with aviation engineers and accident reconstruction experts with experience in designing and manufacturing these types of aircraft.
- We assert our allegations in a lawsuit against all defendants on behalf of the victims and file in an appropriate jurisdiction that is most beneficial to the success of the case.
- We obtain all necessary documents from the defendants, depose the defendants and other witnesses, and prepare for trial using proven litigation strategies that we have developed over the years.
- We resolve the cases using the full extent of the law, whether through trial or settlement.
There is no question that our aviation accident litigation team is among the most experienced aviation accident law firms in the world, and we encourage you to contact us to learn how we may help you after such an overwhelming incident.
Call Wisner Baum at (855) 948-5098 to schedule a free consultation.
