Many Americans own private airplanes and take their family and friends on tripsor just sightseeing tours. Unfortunately, a significant number of private small private airplane accidents end in tragedy. There may be carelessness (“negligence”) on the partof the pilot, a mechanical failure in the airplane, bad weather conditions, erroneousweather reports, negligence on the part of the air traffic controller, or a number of othercauses of the crash.
When the accident is due to pilot error, the survivors of the deceased passengerscan seek recovery against the pilot’s estate. If the accident was due to a mechanicalfailure, the heirs may sue the manufacturer or the company that maintained the plane,whichever was responsible for the mechanical failure.
One of the most tragic private small airplane crashes involved the son of the greatPresident John F. Kennedy. Kennedy’s son and namesake, John F. Kennedy, Jr. John John was a relatively new pilot with little night flying experience and was rated forVisual Flight Rules (VFR) only, not Instrument Flight Rules (IFR). John John was flyinga single-prop Piper Saratoga with his wife Carolyn and his sister-in-law, Lauren Bessette.The flight path was over the featureless waterscape of Long Island Sound, and theweather was dark, hazy, and marginally VFR. The accident was attributed to John John’sbecoming disoriented on a dark and hazy night over water. The official cause of theaccident according to the final report of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB)was due to “the pilot’s failure to maintain control of his airplane during a descent overwater at night, which was a result of spatial disorientation.”
The vast majority of small private plane accidents occur on takeoff and landingdue to the pilot’s inexperience, carelessness, or a mechanical problem with the plane,which may be the plane’s manufacturer’s fault, the fault of the mechanic who last workedon the plane, or the pilot’s failure to get the problem fixed if he or she knew there was amechanical problem with the plane.
If you have been injured or a loved one killed in a small private airplane accident,you should contact an experienced personal injury lawyer as soon as possible. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and the Federal Aviation Association(FAA) will usually investigate every plane crash and their reports can be crucial inidentifying the cause of the accident and establishing liability.
