Crouse Law Offices. International ⁄ National ⁄ Local Accident Litigators

Safety Reform Slow After Buffalo Plane Crash

On February 12, 2009, 50 people died in a fiery plane crash near Buffalo, N.Y. as a result of the pilots of the regional airliner making critical errors. Almost a year later, safety reforms have not been implemented even though Federal regulators and lawmakers promised quick action immediately following the plane crash.

The crash brought to light a safety gap between the major airlines and the regional carriers. Some of the concerns are fatigue among the pilots of low-fare airlines, long-distance commutes and inadequate training. Pilot performance has been a factor in three of the last six fatal domestic airline accidents involving regional carriers. Investigators have determined the cause of the Buffalo crash to be primarily the errors made by the pilots.

According to the Washington Post, the National Transportation Safety Board is meeting to determine the probable cause of the N.Y. crash and to make safety recommendations, stating the safety issues raised by the crash go beyond the pilots’ mistakes.

The House has passed legislation to force the FAA to strengthen regulations, but action has been slowed by unrelated Senate disputes.

Crouse Law Offices has the necessary experience and knowledge to handle your airline safety concerns. If you or a loved one has been injured or killed in an airline accident , please call us at 919-861-0500 or contact us by using our online form.

Buffalo Plane Crash

Newfoundland Helicopter Crash Lawsuit Setted

In March of 2009, seventeen people perished in a helicopter crash off the coast of Newfoundland. The Sikorsky S-92A helicopter was making an emergency return to St. John’s airport when it plunged into the ocean, killing all on board.

In June, a lawsuit was filed against Sikorsky, Keystone Helicopters and United Technologies Corp. alleging there were obvious safety concerns and a Transportation Safety Board reports the helicopter’s tail rotor gears had been damaged and may have caused the pilots to lost control of the aircraft.

In July, the sides entered into discussions to settled the case, but are not releasing details of the settlement.

Families of the victims said their goal was also to get answers as to the caused of the crash in an effort to prevent this from happening again.

Crouse Law Offices has the necessary experience and knowledge to handle your helicopter case, regardless of the type of aircraft or where the accident occurred. Experience means knowing the equipment, how to succeed – and how to win. Please call us at 919-861-0500 or contact us by using our online form.

Settlement in Helicopter Crash

United Airlines Airbus 319 Landing Gear Collapses at Newark

As the industry questions the cause of the landing gear malfunction at Newark Liberty International Airport, no injuries have been reported.

The passengers had go crouch down in their seats and prepare for a crash landing. The crew was able to bring the airliner to a safe belly landing and all 48 passengers and 5 crew members slid down emergency chutes to safety once the plane came to a stop.Some passengers report the landing was smoother that other landings they have experienced at Newark.

The trouble became apparent when Flight 634 from Chicago was on its descent to the Newark airport. The passengers were aware of trouble when the plane pulled up and started to circle the airport instead of landing. The pilot then announced there was a problem with the landing gear and they should brace themselves for a crash.

An investigation is underway.

United Airline Landing

American Airlines Overshot Runway In Jamaica

According to Jamaica’s Civil Aviation Authority, the American Airlines Boeing 737 that crash-landed at the international airport in Kingston overshot the runway. The flight originated at Washington’s Regan National Airport and has stopped in Miami, Florida before traveling on to Jamaica.

The airliner was going about 300 kilometers (about 186 miles) per hour when its wheels touched the runway and then bounced as it tried to stop. The crash-landing caused the fuselage to crack open and the engines to detach from the aircraft on impact.

Several of the 154 passengers and crew were injured, but there were no fatalities in the incident.

American Airline Crash

Safety Changes May Have Prevented Float Plane Crash

The Canadian Press reports Transport Canada was aware of the dangers for passengers on submerged float planes years before the deaths of six people in November.

Transport Canada chose to investigate further rather than heed the warnings of various reports and studies which made safety recommendations concerning life vests and quick-release doors.A 2008 internal government memo stated safety changes should be put on hold in “deference to other civil aviation priorities.”

A federal government safety review was launched in 2005 after several float plane accidents and completed in 2006. The subsequent report recommended life vests be worn and doors left unlocked during takeoff and landings and that cargo and luggage doesn’t interfere with people trying to get out of the plane.

Although it is not yet known if these changes would have saved the lives of those who perished in November, all bodies removed were still inside the plane and none were wearing life vests.

Float Plane Crash

Deadline Set For $11.4M “Final Season” Deadly Helicopter Crash Lawsuit

A judge in Polk County, Iowa has set a date for all parties involved in an $11.4 million lawsuit following a deadly helicopter crash to settle the case through mediation.

In June 2006, a helicopter used in the filming of the high school baseball movie, ‘Final Season’, hit a power line and crashed killing a cameraman and injuring the pilot and film producer.

A Polk County jury has awarded $7.2 million to the widow of the cameraman and $4.2 million to the producer, stating the pilot and two other producers were at fault in the helicopter crash.

Crouse Law Offices has vast experience in the field of Aviation Law. Mr. Crouse is a qualified Army helicopter pilot and has the experience and knowledge needed to competently handle your helicopter case. If you have been injured or have had a loved one killed in a helicopter crash, call our offices at 1-919-861-0500 or contact us online for a free evaluation of your case.

‘Final Season’ Helicopter Crash

Dangers At Newark Airport

The unsafe landing procedures have been revealed at New Jersey’s Newark Airport because the air traffic controllers who cared more about passenger safety than their jobs.

The controllers knew that landing planes on intersecting runways at the same time risked lives and when the FAA ignored them, they turned to the news media for help. All they wanted the FAA to do was to help them do their job – to keep airplanes from colliding. Even after several close calls, the FAA tried to keep the controllers quiet, accused of caring more about capacity than safety.

The Department of Transportation Inspector General confirmed the landing on intersecting runways at Newark created “unnecessary flight hazards” and faults the FAA for being slow to respond. New Jersey Congressman Chris Smith states the slow response to prevent a catastrophe could have killed hundreds if not thousands. The Office of Special Counsel blasted the FAA for not going far enough an for allowing “a potential danger to the flying public to persist.”

The FAA plans to start up an automated system to help air traffic controllers separate plane on intersecting runways on December 14th.

Mr. Crouse, Prominent Aviation Attorney, Quoted By Rotorhub

The following article was released by Rotohub, Sikorsky Bell, and Eurocopter.

Raleigh, NC September 10, 2008 — The Sept. 4 crash of the United States Coast Guard Eurocopter HH-65 “Dauphin” helicopter and the loss of four service members comes on the heels of three other high-profile crashes and points to the ongoing need for increased efforts in helicopter safety, says a prominent aviation law attorney.

Devices such as cockpit voice recorders and flight data recorders — two electronic tools which could help pinpoint the causes of fatal helicopter crashes — are the exception rather than the norm in most helicopters and light aircraft, says Raleigh, N.C. lawyer James T. Crouse, a former U.S. Army helicopter test pilot.

“These devices are available and should be mandated,” Crouse says. “Similar devices have been utilized in the automotive industry for years, and are now affordable for use in smaller aircraft in aviation such as helicopters.”

Crouse is the senior partner in the Crouse Law Firm, which concentrates in aviation accident law at the local, national and international level, representing the families of persons injured in civilian and military aviation accidents, including helicopter crashes.

Crouse has long been an advocate of greater safety devices in helicopters and has written extensively about the causes of helicopter accidents. The Coast Guard crash in Hawaii may have been caused by a problem with the aircraft’s main rotor system, Crouse says, perhaps as a result of interference by a cable that could have snapped during a simulated rescue operation involving the aircraft’s winch. “Fortunately, the aircraft had a flight data recorder which, along with other portions of the aircraft, has been recovered,” Crouse says. Four survivors have also been able to give information to investigators, according to Crouse.

The need for greater helicopter safety is underscored by the Coast Guard crash and several other recent incidents:

An Aug 8. crash of a Sikorsky S-61N helicopter in Northern California’s Trinity Alps took the lives of seven firefighters and two others. “The crash is still under investigation, but given the fact that it was a heavily loaded helicopter at a fairly high density altitude, the aircraft was within the danger zone of helicopter operations where any problem with lift can cause the aircraft to have difficulty maintaining altitude,” Crouse says.

On Aug. 29, a Robinson helicopter crashed in southwestern Missouri. Very little information has been released on that accident. “This is a popular helicopter due to its relatively low cost, and its simple design makes it popular with new helicopter pilots,” Crouse says. “The fact that the helicopter was seen flying normally and then nose-dived points to a failure of a component.”

On Aug. 31, an Air Evac medical helicopter crashed near Burney, Indiana, killing the pilot, flight nurse and paramedic. Reportedly, the Bell Model 206 Long Ranger helicopter’s main rotor system was found 200 yards from the main crash site, possibly indicating a catastrophic failure of the main rotor system, says Crouse. The crash marked the fifth time in recent years that a medical helicopter operated by Air Evac EMS has crashed, and the second fatal accident in Indiana for the West Plains, Missouri company.

Crouse says that major steps are being taken in helicopter safety through the work of such organizations as the International Helicopter Safety Team, formed by industry and government groups to study the causes of accidents and to make recommendations on their prevention.
Those efforts are commendable, but Crouse notes that data recorders are still not required on helicopters–or other “light” aircraft. This is a limitation for the accident investigators, Crouse says. “The investigators still rely upon an analysis of the wreckage–which they have been doing for decades. We could get closer to the cause if we had this electronic information. The capability is there, why not use it?”

Crouse added: “Whether the cause of each of these crashes can be determined remains to be seen. But the families, operators and manufacturers need to know what happened. Without this knowledge, there is a strong risk that crashes will continue to occur due to the same, undetermined, causes.”

About Crouse Law Offices:Crouse Law Offices in Raleigh, N.C. is headed by attorney James T. Crouse, a pilot and lawyer with more than three decades of aviation and legal experience. Mr. Crouse also teaches aviation law at Duke University Law School. For more information, visit the firm’s Websites at http://www.crouselaw.com/index.html and http://www.helicopterlawyers.com/

Wrongful Death Claim Filed As Result of DJ AM’s Plane Crash

People Magazine reports “DJ AM’s” mother has added a wrongful death claim to the lawsuit her son filed against LearJet prior to his death.

In her lawsuit, Andrea Gross claims the plane crash in September 2008 “ultimately caused Adam Goldstein’s death at a later date.” The co-pilot and three others were killed when their Learjet went down shortly after takeoff in South Carolina. Goldstein and a drummer with the band survived but suffered second and third degree burns.

Goldstein had filed a $20 million lawsuit against Learjet, the pilot’s estate and others prior to his death. Post-Traumatic Stress and survivor’s guilt from the plane crash is cited as the cause of his fatal relapse in August.

The family of the co-pilot has settled their wrongful death lawsuit and will receive $500,000.

With 28 years of experience in aviation law, including handling crashes internationally, Crouse Law Offices will be able to handle your concerns competently and efficiently. The successful career of Crouse Law Offices has gained them the respect of major law firms and large aviation manufacturers. If you or a loved one has been injured or killed in a helicopter or plane incident, please call us at 919-861-0500 or contact us online for a free review of your case.

Wrongful Death

Zoned Airspace Goes Into Effect Over The Hudson

On Thursday, November 19, a long needed “exclusionary zone” over the Hudson River in New York City goes into effect. The new “zone” system separates the airspace for helicopters and seaplanes from the airspace for aircraft flying over the Hudson, reports rotor & wing.

VFR aircraft which operate under air traffic control rules will operate above 1,300 feet while lower flying aircraft using visual flight rules will fly between 1,000 feet and 1,300 feet and use the same radio frequency used by aircraft flying below 1,000 feet. These changes were made in hopes of avoiding another midair collision such as the one on Aug. 8 that killed nine people.

Aircraft Rules Over The Hudson