At The Gilbert Law Group®, our aviation accident lawyers represent victims and the families of those involved in commercial airline crashes and small plane accidents. We are familiar with the devastating injuries and losses that can result when an aircraft crash lands, and we are here to help those that were harmed recoup compensation from any negligent parties.
Two recent aviation crashes that have been in the media headlines a lot lately are the Southwest Airlines accident at New York’s LaGuardia airport and the Asiana Airlines plane crash landing at San Francisco International Airport. In the more recent one in NY, eight people were injured when Flight 345’s nose gear failed during touch done on the runway, folding up beneath the plane and damaging other systems on the aircraft. 150 people were on the flight. All of the injury victims have been released from the hospital.
The company that made the landing gear is Goodrich Corp., which was acquired by United Technologies two years ago. If airplane malfunction played a part in the aviation accident, this could be grounds for a products liability lawsuit. The Southwest jet had just undergone inspection on July 18, four days before it crash-landed at the airport. The National Transportation Safety Board is looking at the Boeing Co. 737’s crash-proof recorders.
The Southwest Airlines plane accident came a little over two weeks after a larger aircraft, an Asiana Airlines Flight 214, crash-landed on the West Coast. Three people were killed and more than 150 injured in that plane accident. There were over 300 people on the Boeing 777, which appeared to fall short of its approach toward the runway. Survivors that were injured sustained brain injuries, spinal injuries, back injuries, broken bones, and emotional trauma.
The NTSB also is investigating what happened. The crews actions during landing and afterwards, when evacuating the plane, are under scrutiny. Although it will take awhile before the agency reaches its final conclusions about what caused the crash, early signs show that pilot error may have been a factor, with the pilots not realizing in time that the aircraft was going too slow and they were undershooting the runway.
Among possible defendants of any airplane accidents related to this incident are Asiana, Boeing, and certain component part manufacturers. Of course, who is sued will depend on the evidence found as to what happened.
Boeing could be a popular defendant for aviation accident lawsuits for foreign nationals that were injured in the plane crash part because of a treaty about international airline accidents that could prevent these victims and their families from receiving as much money as American passengers. This is just one more reason why it is so important that plane crash victims work with an experienced aviation accident law firm.
Then, of course, there are the three victims that died in the Asiana crash, all teen girls. Their families could pursue wrongful death damages. One of the deceased, a 16-year-old Chinese student, reportedly died not from any plane crash injuries she sustained but because a firefighter accident ran over her with a truck after a rescuer pulled her from the wreckage and laid her on the runway next to the left wing.
