AVIATION RELATED INJURY

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Two men suffer minor injuries when their plane went down, landing in the water

Aviation > Airplane Accident

February 1, 2008

Winston County, AL - According to the Winston County Sheriff's Office, two men were in their ultra light plane and the plane went down in Smith Lake. Both suffered minor injuries.

Aviation injury cases by necessity must deal with the technology of aviation itself: the proper operation of aircraft; the science and engineering of aeronautics; and the design of the aircraft, engines and components. And because many aviation accidents are caused by improper operation, the starting point of any aviation case is usually a simple consideration of whether the airplane was properly operated.

Aviation injury cases give rise to a host of considerations unique to the occurrence of aviation accidents. For example, when an aviation accident occurs on navigable waters, the applicable law may be the general maritime law of the United States, including maritime statutes such as the Death on the High Seas Act. Admiralty's jurisdiction, and the exclusive effect of federal maritime law, exists over all maritime torts. Thus, if an aviation accident is maritime in nature, maritime law applies.

Recent Aviation Accident Cases

Charter Airlines - Last year, Avjet Corporation, a charter jet company, settled for $11.7-million with the families of three people killed in a March 2001 plane crash at the Aspen, Colorado airport. The settlement was reached as a Los Angeles jury was about to begin the punitive phase of the trial. The Gulfstream III was carrying 15 passengers from Los Angeles to Aspen when it crashed about 2400 feet short of the runway. Light snow was falling as the pilot attempted to land at dusk. Two planes ahead of the Gulfstream had aborted their approach because visibility was bad. The Aspen airport is considered very difficult to maneuver, due to the mountainous terrain. The plaintiffs alleged that Avjet's pilots knowingly flew into the face of danger by attempting to land under unsafe, stormy weather conditions. Plantiffs charged that this action violated the airport's night landing curfew and additional state and federal regulations.

More Aviation Overviews...