The U.S. government heavily regulates air transportation, setting standards for aircraft and their pilots. It also investigates and produces reports for every aviation accident in the country, as well as foreign crashes involving U.S. carriers or equipment made by U.S. manufacturers.
Such investigations have effectively identified the most common causes of aviation accidents. And these causes, in turn, are what clue aviation accident lawyers into who may bear the liability for any particular crash or wreck.
In Illinois, Zayed Law Offices Personal Injury Attorneys helps airplane crash victims and their families seek compensation for their related injuries (and fatalities, if any). Contact us today at (312) 726-1616 to schedule a free consultation with one of our Illinois personal injury attorneys.
How Zayed Law Offices Personal Injury Attorneys Can Help After an Aviation Accident in Illinois
For over a decade, Zayed Law Offices Personal Injury Attorneys has fought airplane operators and manufacturers for fair compensation for crash victims in Illinois. Our Illinois personal injury lawyers have decades of combined experience battling multinational corporations and powerful insurance companies.
We provide the following legal services to support airplane crash victims and their families when they need help most:
- Analyzing official investigation reports and customizing a legal strategy for compensation
- Building a case by collecting evidence and working with expert witnesses
- Notifying the at-fault party and their insurer of the claim and negotiating to resolve it
- Filing a lawsuit if we are unable to reach a fair settlement
Do not hesitate to contact our Illinois aviation accident attorneys to schedule a free consultation and learn how we can seek compensation for your losses from the parties responsible.
Airplane Accident Statistics
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) defines aircraft accidents as any occurrence in the operation of an aircraft that happens between boarding/preparing the plane and disembarking the plane after landing.
Thus, accidents can include the following events:
- Collisions with aircraft or other vehicles on the ground
- Collisions with aircraft or birds in the air
- Equipment failures during flight
- Errors in the manufacturing or operation of the aircraft
- Hard landings
- Intentional acts, such as hijackings or deliberate crashes
In 2023, the NTSB investigated a total of 1,216 aviation accidents, a figure that can be broken down as follows:
- 31 non-fatal accidents involving commercial carriers
- 29 non-fatal and eight fatal accidents involving commuter and on-demand carriers
- 959 non-fatal and 191 fatal accidents involving general aviation
Commercial carriers are aircraft that conduct regularly scheduled flights for a fee. When you think about flying, commercial airlines probably come to mind. Commuter and on-demand carriers are generally limited to aircraft that seat nine or fewer people and use a non-turbojet engine.
“General aviation” covers all other civil aircraft, such as news helicopters, private airplanes, and cropdusters. Even though these flights are likely not the first to come to mind on the subject of flying, they nevertheless accounted for 24.9 million flight hours in 2023 compared to only 19.2 million flight hours for commercial airlines.
Common Causes of Airplane Crashes
Commercial airlines, in addition to being so closely regulated, are often public companies that try to avoid the negative publicity of a crash. As a result, commercial airlines have the best safety record among aviation entities.
Be that as it may, the following factors were the top causes of commercial airplane accidents in 2023, according to the NTSB:
- Turbulence
- Hard landings
- Cabin safety, such as someone opening a door mid-flight
- Ground handling, such as truck collisions
- Non-engine system failure
- Bird strikes
General aviation, in contrast, has a poorer safety record overall—the following factors were the top causes of general aviation accidents in 2023:
- Loss of control in flight
- Engine failure
- Loss of control on the ground
- Abnormal contact on the runway
- Fuel issues, such as fuel leaks or running out of fuel
- Collision during take-off or landing
Private aircraft owners may cut corners on maintenance or repairs and may even fly when fatigued or intoxicated, which can lead to such accidents.
Liability for Aviation Accidents
Aviation accident liability is determined by negligence, a phenomenon that occurs when an air operator, in this case, fails to exercise reasonable care under the given circumstances. Of course, not all aviation accidents result from negligence; some, such as those involving a bird strike, can occur despite everyone exercising due care and caution.
Many others do result from negligence, even if their causes seem to be outside the operator’s hands. For example, if you were hurt by luggage falling on you during turbulence, it’s understandable that the pilot could not prevent the rough air. The pilot might still be negligent if they approached a turbulent patch and knew going around it was a reasonable option.
Additionally, the operator might be negligent in maintaining and repairing their aircraft. Under negligence principles, an aircraft owner has a legal duty to comply with federal maintenance requirements and must take any additional steps to keep their plane reasonably safe.
Contact Our Illinois Accident Lawyers for a Free Consultation
Regardless of the cause, an aviation accident often has catastrophic results. Contact Zayed Law Offices Personal Injury Attorneys for a free consultation to discuss the airplane accident compensation you can seek for your injuries or the death of a loved one. Our Illinois aviation accident lawyers offer free consultations.
