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New Common Rules for the Internal EU Market

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On November 1, 2008, Council Regulation 1008/2008 on Common Rules for the Operation of Air Services in the European Community entered into force. The regulation, which has been touted by the European Commission as simply a revision to 1993′s “third…

aviation law

More on the Future of the U.S/EU Second-Stage Negotiations

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While a number of commentators have adopted the approach of Chicken Little when it comes to the possibility of European Union Member States suspending rights under the 2007 U.S./EC Air Transport Agreement should the U.S. fail to relax its foreign…

aviation law attorney

Learn Why an Aviation Accident Attorney Becomes Important

Between the years 2001 – 2006, the US airline industry experienced the safest period in aviation history with only one major crash.  However, since then crashes and fatalities have risen, making an aviation accident attorney mush more important.  With an average of sixty-one thousand people in the air at any given moment over the United States, crashes and accidents are a given.  Though they do not occur often (it has been a long understood fact that an airplane is the safest way to travel), when they do occur they can involve hundreds of individuals, several insurance companies, and dozens of regulatory agencies.  Thus, a specialized attorney has come to the forefront to help the families of those injured or killed get restitution for their losses.

Aviation attorneys not only hold law degrees, but often have commercial piloting experience or advanced degrees in aeronautical engineering.  They need this diverse experience to help sift through the vast amounts of data available when a commercial airliner crashes.  Their ultimate goal is to figure out why the plane crashed.  The causes for a plane crash can vary greatly.  These causes can include pilot error, maintenance issues, the age of the plane, runway issues, weather conditions, improper weight distribution of people and cargo, or terrorist activities.  Under some of these conditions there is no accessible liability.  Crashes caused by weather conditions or terrorist activities are usually not considered to be under the control of anybody.  However, all the other conditions require of some assessment of liability.

To assess this liability an aviation accident attorney must discover exactly why an airplane crashed.  This can be a difficult process.  Depending on the size of the aircraft and the manner of the accident one or several local, state, and national regulatory agencies may be involved.  A successful lawyer must know how to work within these sometimes conflicting agencies.  On top of governmental aspect, there are also powerful insurance agencies working on behalf of the airline company.  These insurances companies, while not denying obvious fault, will try to construe the evidence of fault in the airline’s best interest.  Thus, because of this, private individuals hire lawyers to fight in their best interest.

Aviation accidents, of course, are not limited to large commercial crashes.  The number of people flying in personal or private jets continues to increase.  With so many planes in the air, crashes and accidents are likely if not commonplace.  These small scale accidents, while not nearly as complicated as the larger commercial accidents, still require specialized attorneys to assign legal blame.  When dealing with accidents involving small private planes, insurance companies like to blame in the inexperience of the pilots.  However, an aviation attorney can be to light such details as safety of the aircraft design, maintenance history, and the pilot’s aviation history.  Thus, an increase in these specialized lawyers is increasing even in the private realm.

Incidences involving cargo planes also require legal guidance.  These accidents offer different challenges than other incidences.  These differences are mainly attributed to the amount of cargo on a plane.  Accidents can be caused by pilot error, the age of the airplane, or the uneven distribution of weight associated with the cargo.  It is the responsibility of the lawyer to decide which, if any, of these instances occurred.  Therefore, for all the reasons listed above, an aviation accident attorney can become important should you need this type of specialized representation. 

The Outlook for 2009

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The International Air Transport Association reported on Tuesday that U.S. air carriers could post a very modest $300 million profit while the world’s other regions will likely endure $2.5 billion in losses. The losses will be nowhere near as severe…

LaHood’s Aviation Agenda
Last Friday, President-elect Barack Obama named Illinois Republican Congressman Ray LaHood to head the U.S. Department of Transportation. LaHood has been characterized “as a pragmatist” with a “determination to get things done while not getting bogged down in ideology.” The…

Meta: No Auto Bailout…For Now
Yesterday’s blog post concluded with a brief remark on the possibility of U.S. airlines falling in line behind the automakers if the global economic crisis proves too damaging. News that the bailout bill died in the Senate Thursday (see The…

civil aviation law