Work Examples

Aviation Accident Case Examples
Here Are A Few Cases Firm Members Have Handled:

We represent the estate of a passenger who died on Turkish Airlines Flight 1951, which crashed on February 26, 2009 while on approach in Amsterdam, Netherlands.

Members prevailed on a case involving a product liability claim against a helicopter manufacturer. We filed a motion for summary judgment, where we proved that the tail rotor on the new helicopter should not have contacted the tail in flight, which caused the helicopter to crash. The trial judge agreed, and held that this was a design defect in violation of the Federal Aviation Regulations. As a result, the manufacturer was negligent as a matter of law. In other words, the manufacturer was held to be entirely at fault. The only issue remaining for trial was damages. Up against the wall, the defendant offered a favorable settlement for our clients, the widow and family of the deceased pilot.

We represent the estate of a forest firefighter pilot who died in a helicopter accident while fighting fires in Northern California. Suit was filed in California against the United States.

After a 3 week jury trial members obtained a $10.5 million verdict against a regional fly-in host and its national counterpart. The case involved failure to arrange for adequate fire and emergency response at the event, which caused a pilot to needlessly die. Though the verdict was reversed by the court of appeals, and the Washington Supreme Court refused to consider the bad appellate decision in 2009, the judgment sent a safety message to the industry, causing change in event emergency services. We believe that change has already saved lives.

On January 31, 2000 Alaska Airlines Flight 261, flying from Puerto Villarta, Mexico to Seattle via San Francisco crashed into the Pacific Ocean northwest of Los Angeles. Firm members represented the families and estates of numerous passengers. After agreeing not to contest liability, and after the trial court determined that maritime law applied (which was most favorable to our clients), we were able to obtain very favorable settlement of all our cases.

Due to our location in the Pacific Northwest, we have extensive experience in helicopter logging accidents . Two pilots were flying a large helicopter over mountainous wooded terrain in northern California performing helicopter logging operations. The helicopter crashed, killing one pilot and seriously injuring the other. Even though the NTSB was unable to establish that mechanical failure caused the accident, our own investigation and team of aviation experts found otherwise. The claims against the numerous defendants were settled shortly before trial.

Here is a partial list of some of the entities we have handled claims against:
Alaska Airlines
Allison Engines
America West Airline
Auburn Flight Services
Boeing Company
Coastal Helicopters
Experimental Aircraft Association
General Electric Company
Robinson Helicopter
Rolls Royce Engines
Rotair Industries
Sikorsky Aircraft
Southwest Airlines
Standard Aero Ltd.
State of Washington
Turkish Airlines
United States Government
NWEAA Fly-In
Extex, Ltd
California Turbine Service
Superior Air Parts