Proven
Track Record
Wisner Baum has settled over 150 aviation cases for $1 million or more
Experienced
Legal Counsel
Represented more than 800 passengers, crew, and victims across 6 continents and 29 countries
Recognized
Law Firm
Proud to be the first U.S. law firm to get an official public apology from an airline crash
Located in Los Angeles, Wisner Baum is a nationally-recognized law firm entrusted with providing experienced legal representation in personal injury and wrongful death lawsuits throughout the United States and internationally. We handle aviation accident lawsuits involving commercial airliners, single-engine aircraft, passenger jets, helicopters and other aircraft. Since 1985, our lawyers have represented aviation accident victims in some of the worst air disasters in history.
Our aviation accident law firm has experience with almost every kind of aircraft accident, including:
Case Type | Example Description |
Commercial Airline Accidents | Catastrophic events involving major passenger jets |
Helicopter Crashes | Tour, medical, and private helicopter incidents |
Charter and Small Plane Accidents | Single-engine, air taxi, and corporate jet crashes |
Military Aviation | Cases involving military aircraft and contractor negligence |
Mid-Air Collisions | Collisions between aircraft in flight |
International Aviation Accidents | Litigation under the Montreal Convention and cross-border cases |
Airport Runway and In-Flight Incidents | Runway overruns, turbulence injuries, ground collisions |
Drone and Unmanned Aircraft Accidents | Accidents involving commercial or residential drone use |
Air Ambulance and Medical Helicopter Cases | Accidents during emergency medical transport |
Plane Crashes Into Buildings or Houses | Third-party injuries and wrongful death cases |
Wisner Baum stands apart as one of the nation's most experienced aviation law firms, having handled cases involving every major aircraft type, from commercial airliners to military helicopters, across six continents over nearly four decades. Our team has the rare combination of deep technical knowledge to challenge aircraft manufacturers and the litigation experience to secure maximum compensation—proven by our recovery of over half a billion dollars and our unique achievement as the first law firm to secure an official airline apology.
Aviation cases are among the most complex in civil litigation. Here’s what clients can expect:
Jurisdictional and Choice of Law Analysis: One of the first critical determinations involves where your case can be filed and which laws will apply. International flights may be governed by treaties like the Montreal Convention, while domestic crashes may involve complex analysis of state laws, federal regulations, where various parties are based, and more. The choice of jurisdiction can significantly impact potential compensation and case strategy.
Thorough Investigation Phase: After an accident, agencies like the NTSB and FAA launch detailed investigations. Simultaneously, it is critical that your aviation accident lawyer conducts an independent legal investigation—often uncovering facts that government findings overlook.
Legal Deadlines and Timeframes: The statute of limitations for aviation accident lawsuits can vary significantly depending on where the crash occurred, applicable international treaties, and details of airline operation. Your attorney ensures all deadlines are met while navigating these complex jurisdictional requirements.
Discovery and Litigation: These cases typically require extensive discovery, including review of flight data, maintenance logs, crew records, and internal company documents. Aviation litigation often exposes evidence not available in public reports.
Duration: A realistic timeframe for an aviation accident lawsuit—from initial investigation to case resolution—can last 18 to 36 months or more. Clients deserve honest expectations about the persistence that may be required.
Technical Complexity: Issues of product liability, negligence, and federal aviation regulations mean your legal team must be fluent in both law and aviation technology.
Losing a family member in an aviation accident is devastating. You are forced to mourn the loss, go through the grieving process, and deal with complex legal challenges. But you don’t have to face these challenges alone; we understand these challenges and have decades of experience helping clients who have also suffered losses. One thing we can say for certain: Airlines and insurance companies may try to exploit this vulnerable period by pressuring families with inadequate settlement offers, sometimes within days of the tragedy. That’s why it is a good idea to speak with a lawyer as soon as you feel ready.
As we touched on above, airlines may offer settlements that seem substantial but often represent a fraction of what we consider full and fair compensation. These early offers—sometimes presented as "no strings attached"—frequently contain hidden clauses that waive critical legal rights and offer pennies to the dollar. Your first priority should be securing experienced legal representation before signing any documents or accepting any payments.
Wrongful death claims in aviation accidents can include:
Economic Damages: Lost future income, benefits, and financial support the deceased would have provided throughout their expected lifetime. For high earners or young victims, these calculations can reach into the millions.
Non-Economic Damages: Pain and suffering endured by surviving family members, loss of companionship, guidance, and consortium. Courts recognize the immeasurable value of relationships severed by preventable tragedies.
Punitive Damages: When gross negligence, willful misconduct, or corporate cost-cutting policies contribute to accidents, courts may award punitive damages to deter similar conduct.
Additional Costs: Funeral expenses, medical bills if the victim survived initially, and in some jurisdictions, the victim's pre-death pain and suffering.
Complex Liability and Strategic Considerations
Aviation accidents rarely result from single causes. Cases may involve claims against airlines, manufacturers, maintenance contractors, airports, or government entities. Each defendant may have different insurance coverage and legal strategies.
Experienced aviation counsel conducts parallel investigations to the NTSB, occasionally uncovering evidence of corporate negligence, design defects, or regulatory violations that official investigations may not emphasize.
At Wisner Baum, we understand that no amount of money can restore your loss, but fair compensation provides financial security for your family's future, acknowledges the value of the life taken, and creates accountability that can prevent similar incidents in the future.
At Wisner Baum, our years of experience handling plane crashes and other mass disasters have provided our team with a comprehensive understanding of how to effectively investigate and prepare these cases for trial or settlement.
In our experience, the most common aviation accident causes include:
The NTSB investigates approximately 1,200-1,400 aviation accidents annually in the United States, but the vast majority involve small private aircraft, not commercial airlines. Of these, roughly 200-250 result in fatalities.
For commercial passenger airlines operating under Part 121 regulations—the flights most people take—fatal accidents in the U.S. are extraordinarily rare. Prior to the midair collision between American Airlines Flight 5342 and a military helicopter at Reagan National Airport on January 29, 2025, there had been no fatal U.S. commercial airline crashes since 2009.
According to data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA), there are on average 5-10 fatal commercial aviation disasters worldwide each year, resulting in 144-244 deaths.
We meticulously investigate the causes of each accident and pursue accountability against the:
When we take on cases stemming from plane accidents, our experienced Los Angeles airplane accident attorneys will be there to help with urgent matters, to manage and conduct an in-depth investigation, to protect our clients’ rights and to obtain full and just compensation.
We also seek non-traditional remedies where appropriate. For example, in 2003 we organized the first official public airline apology in history. At a ceremony in Charlotte, N.C., the responsible airline issued the surviving family members a public apology as part of a settlement agreement.
At Wisner Baum, we handle cases against all major airlines, including:
Our firm has a successful track record handling U.S. airline accident cases like:
JetBlue Flight 1416 In-Flight Incident: On September 18, 2014, JetBlue Flight 1416 departed from Long Beach Airport with 147 people onboard. Roughly 20 minutes into the Austin, Texas-bound flight, passengers heard a loud bang and smoke began to billow throughout the passenger cabin as the plane was over the Pacific Ocean. Many passengers went into a panic.
A few struggled to breathe. One passenger would later tell CNN that oxygen masks never fell from the ceiling, so flight attendants had to manually hand them out. Many suffered severe stress and fear of impending crash and death. Dozens of passengers forced to endure this in-flight emergency, retained Wisner Baum to represent them in their JetBlue lawsuit.
Continental Connection / Colgan Air Flight 3407 Crash: Our firm was retained to handle a wrongful death case that arose from the February 12, 2009 crash. Our lawsuit alleged that Flight 3407 flew into icing conditions even though the aircraft was equipped with ineffective de-icing equipment. We argued that defective aircraft design was a significant cause of this U.S. airline accident that took the lives of 50 people when it crashed into a house near Buffalo, New York.
Southwest Airlines Flight 1248 Crash: On December 8, 2005 Southwest Airlines Flight 1248 headed for Chicago Midway International Airport after a successful take off from Baltimore. However, the flight encountered a snow storm and the plane was delayed for 35 minutes before attempting to land on a runway that would turn out to be too small to stop the plane efficiently. The plane skidded off the runway and crashed through the airport barrier, eventually stopping on South Central Ave, killing a young child in a parked car on the street. Wisner Baum represented six of the injured passengers.
US Airways Express/Air Midwest Flight 5481 Crash: Air Midwest Flight 5481 taking off from Charlotte-Douglas International Airport crashed shortly after takeoff on January 8, 2003. The Raytheon Beechcraft was destroyed by impact forces and a fire that resulted from the plane impacting a nearby building. The NTSB determined several contributing factors to the cause of the accident, including the oversight of Air Midwest’s maintenance and procedures, the weight the plane was carrying and the incorrect rigging of the elevator control system. Twenty-one fatalities resulted in the crash.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is the government agency that investigates aviation accidents. When notified of an aviation accident, the agency deploys a "Go Team" of investigators to the crash site within hours to secure evidence, interview witnesses, and begin analyzing the sequence of events. The NTSB operates under what's called the "party system," which designates aircraft manufacturers, airlines, engine companies, and other industry stakeholders as official participants in the investigation process. These parties help examine wreckage, analyze flight data, and even assist in writing factual reports—though only the NTSB determines the final "probable cause" of the accident. The investigation culminates in a comprehensive report that includes factual findings, analysis, and a probable cause determination aimed at preventing future accidents.
While the NTSB conducts thorough investigations of aviation accidents, experienced aviation attorneys conduct parallel independent investigations that often reveal critical facts the NTSB may underemphasize. As attorneys, we have seen cases where the NTSB attributes "pilot error" to incidents that may actually involve mechanical failures or design defects that the investigation may obscure. Manufacturing representatives participate in evidence handling, component teardowns, and even help draft factual reports, while victims' families and their legal experts are excluded from the process.
That’s why experienced aviation attorneys are vital to the process of uncovering what really happened. At Wisner Baum, our investigations fill this critical gap by focusing on liability and accountability rather than just probable cause. Our aviation attorneys work with independent experts, aerospace engineers, and accident reconstruction specialists who have no financial stake in protecting industry interests. These investigations often employ discovery tools unavailable to the NTSB, including subpoena power, depositions under oath, and access to internal company documents that reveal corporate decision-making patterns.
Legal investigations also examine factors the NTSB typically doesn't pursue, such as corporate cost-cutting measures, inadequate training programs, rushed maintenance schedules, and systemic safety culture problems that may have contributed to the accident. Perhaps most importantly, legal investigations operate under different time pressures and objectives than the NTSB. Attorney investigations can uncover evidence of negligence, design defects, or regulatory violations that may be mentioned only briefly in NTSB reports but become central to proving liability in court. The discovery process in aviation litigation has repeatedly exposed critical safety issues first identified by independent legal investigations rather than government agencies, ultimately leading to design changes, improved maintenance protocols, and enhanced pilot training programs that benefit all air travelers.
Our aviation accident lawyers in Los Angeles and across California are ready to fight for your rights—no matter how complex the case, and no matter the opponent. At Wisner Baum, our attorneys have:
If you or someone in your family was harmed in an aircraft accident, contact our aviation attorneys today.
Aviation cases are among the most complex in civil litigation. Here’s what clients can expect:
Jurisdictional and Choice of Law Analysis: One of the first critical determinations involves where your case can be filed and which laws will apply. International flights may be governed by treaties like the Montreal Convention, while domestic crashes may involve complex analysis of state laws, federal regulations, where various parties are based, and more. The choice of jurisdiction can significantly impact potential compensation and case strategy.
Thorough Investigation Phase: After an accident, agencies like the NTSB and FAA launch detailed investigations. Simultaneously, it is critical that your aviation accident lawyer conducts an independent legal investigation—often uncovering facts that government findings overlook.
Legal Deadlines and Timeframes: The statute of limitations for aviation accident lawsuits can vary significantly depending on where the crash occurred, applicable international treaties, and details of airline operation. Your attorney ensures all deadlines are met while navigating these complex jurisdictional requirements.
Discovery and Litigation: These cases typically require extensive discovery, including review of flight data, maintenance logs, crew records, and internal company documents. Aviation litigation often exposes evidence not available in public reports.
Duration: A realistic timeframe for an aviation accident lawsuit—from initial investigation to case resolution—can last 18 to 36 months or more. Clients deserve honest expectations about the persistence that may be required.
Technical Complexity: Issues of product liability, negligence, and federal aviation regulations mean your legal team must be fluent in both law and aviation technology.
Losing a family member in an aviation accident is devastating. You are forced to mourn the loss, go through the grieving process, and deal with complex legal challenges. But you don’t have to face these challenges alone; we understand these challenges and have decades of experience helping clients who have also suffered losses. One thing we can say for certain: Airlines and insurance companies may try to exploit this vulnerable period by pressuring families with inadequate settlement offers, sometimes within days of the tragedy. That’s why it is a good idea to speak with a lawyer as soon as you feel ready.
As we touched on above, airlines may offer settlements that seem substantial but often represent a fraction of what we consider full and fair compensation. These early offers—sometimes presented as "no strings attached"—frequently contain hidden clauses that waive critical legal rights and offer pennies to the dollar. Your first priority should be securing experienced legal representation before signing any documents or accepting any payments.
Wrongful death claims in aviation accidents can include:
Economic Damages: Lost future income, benefits, and financial support the deceased would have provided throughout their expected lifetime. For high earners or young victims, these calculations can reach into the millions.
Non-Economic Damages: Pain and suffering endured by surviving family members, loss of companionship, guidance, and consortium. Courts recognize the immeasurable value of relationships severed by preventable tragedies.
Punitive Damages: When gross negligence, willful misconduct, or corporate cost-cutting policies contribute to accidents, courts may award punitive damages to deter similar conduct.
Additional Costs: Funeral expenses, medical bills if the victim survived initially, and in some jurisdictions, the victim's pre-death pain and suffering.
Complex Liability and Strategic Considerations
Aviation accidents rarely result from single causes. Cases may involve claims against airlines, manufacturers, maintenance contractors, airports, or government entities. Each defendant may have different insurance coverage and legal strategies.
Experienced aviation counsel conducts parallel investigations to the NTSB, occasionally uncovering evidence of corporate negligence, design defects, or regulatory violations that official investigations may not emphasize.
At Wisner Baum, we understand that no amount of money can restore your loss, but fair compensation provides financial security for your family's future, acknowledges the value of the life taken, and creates accountability that can prevent similar incidents in the future.
At Wisner Baum, our years of experience handling plane crashes and other mass disasters have provided our team with a comprehensive understanding of how to effectively investigate and prepare these cases for trial or settlement.
In our experience, the most common aviation accident causes include:
The NTSB investigates approximately 1,200-1,400 aviation accidents annually in the United States, but the vast majority involve small private aircraft, not commercial airlines. Of these, roughly 200-250 result in fatalities.
For commercial passenger airlines operating under Part 121 regulations—the flights most people take—fatal accidents in the U.S. are extraordinarily rare. Prior to the midair collision between American Airlines Flight 5342 and a military helicopter at Reagan National Airport on January 29, 2025, there had been no fatal U.S. commercial airline crashes since 2009.
According to data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA), there are on average 5-10 fatal commercial aviation disasters worldwide each year, resulting in 144-244 deaths.
We meticulously investigate the causes of each accident and pursue accountability against the:
When we take on cases stemming from plane accidents, our experienced Los Angeles airplane accident attorneys will be there to help with urgent matters, to manage and conduct an in-depth investigation, to protect our clients’ rights and to obtain full and just compensation.
We also seek non-traditional remedies where appropriate. For example, in 2003 we organized the first official public airline apology in history. At a ceremony in Charlotte, N.C., the responsible airline issued the surviving family members a public apology as part of a settlement agreement.
At Wisner Baum, we handle cases against all major airlines, including:
Our firm has a successful track record handling U.S. airline accident cases like:
JetBlue Flight 1416 In-Flight Incident: On September 18, 2014, JetBlue Flight 1416 departed from Long Beach Airport with 147 people onboard. Roughly 20 minutes into the Austin, Texas-bound flight, passengers heard a loud bang and smoke began to billow throughout the passenger cabin as the plane was over the Pacific Ocean. Many passengers went into a panic.
A few struggled to breathe. One passenger would later tell CNN that oxygen masks never fell from the ceiling, so flight attendants had to manually hand them out. Many suffered severe stress and fear of impending crash and death. Dozens of passengers forced to endure this in-flight emergency, retained Wisner Baum to represent them in their JetBlue lawsuit.
Continental Connection / Colgan Air Flight 3407 Crash: Our firm was retained to handle a wrongful death case that arose from the February 12, 2009 crash. Our lawsuit alleged that Flight 3407 flew into icing conditions even though the aircraft was equipped with ineffective de-icing equipment. We argued that defective aircraft design was a significant cause of this U.S. airline accident that took the lives of 50 people when it crashed into a house near Buffalo, New York.
Southwest Airlines Flight 1248 Crash: On December 8, 2005 Southwest Airlines Flight 1248 headed for Chicago Midway International Airport after a successful take off from Baltimore. However, the flight encountered a snow storm and the plane was delayed for 35 minutes before attempting to land on a runway that would turn out to be too small to stop the plane efficiently. The plane skidded off the runway and crashed through the airport barrier, eventually stopping on South Central Ave, killing a young child in a parked car on the street. Wisner Baum represented six of the injured passengers.
US Airways Express/Air Midwest Flight 5481 Crash: Air Midwest Flight 5481 taking off from Charlotte-Douglas International Airport crashed shortly after takeoff on January 8, 2003. The Raytheon Beechcraft was destroyed by impact forces and a fire that resulted from the plane impacting a nearby building. The NTSB determined several contributing factors to the cause of the accident, including the oversight of Air Midwest’s maintenance and procedures, the weight the plane was carrying and the incorrect rigging of the elevator control system. Twenty-one fatalities resulted in the crash.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is the government agency that investigates aviation accidents. When notified of an aviation accident, the agency deploys a "Go Team" of investigators to the crash site within hours to secure evidence, interview witnesses, and begin analyzing the sequence of events. The NTSB operates under what's called the "party system," which designates aircraft manufacturers, airlines, engine companies, and other industry stakeholders as official participants in the investigation process. These parties help examine wreckage, analyze flight data, and even assist in writing factual reports—though only the NTSB determines the final "probable cause" of the accident. The investigation culminates in a comprehensive report that includes factual findings, analysis, and a probable cause determination aimed at preventing future accidents.
While the NTSB conducts thorough investigations of aviation accidents, experienced aviation attorneys conduct parallel independent investigations that often reveal critical facts the NTSB may underemphasize. As attorneys, we have seen cases where the NTSB attributes "pilot error" to incidents that may actually involve mechanical failures or design defects that the investigation may obscure. Manufacturing representatives participate in evidence handling, component teardowns, and even help draft factual reports, while victims' families and their legal experts are excluded from the process.
That’s why experienced aviation attorneys are vital to the process of uncovering what really happened. At Wisner Baum, our investigations fill this critical gap by focusing on liability and accountability rather than just probable cause. Our aviation attorneys work with independent experts, aerospace engineers, and accident reconstruction specialists who have no financial stake in protecting industry interests. These investigations often employ discovery tools unavailable to the NTSB, including subpoena power, depositions under oath, and access to internal company documents that reveal corporate decision-making patterns.
Legal investigations also examine factors the NTSB typically doesn't pursue, such as corporate cost-cutting measures, inadequate training programs, rushed maintenance schedules, and systemic safety culture problems that may have contributed to the accident. Perhaps most importantly, legal investigations operate under different time pressures and objectives than the NTSB. Attorney investigations can uncover evidence of negligence, design defects, or regulatory violations that may be mentioned only briefly in NTSB reports but become central to proving liability in court. The discovery process in aviation litigation has repeatedly exposed critical safety issues first identified by independent legal investigations rather than government agencies, ultimately leading to design changes, improved maintenance protocols, and enhanced pilot training programs that benefit all air travelers.
Our aviation accident lawyers in Los Angeles and across California are ready to fight for your rights—no matter how complex the case, and no matter the opponent. At Wisner Baum, our attorneys have:
If you or someone in your family was harmed in an aircraft accident, contact our aviation attorneys today.
You’re not alone—these are challenging and confusing situations that leave most people searching for honest answers.
At Wisner Baum, we’ve spent nearly four decades guiding families and survivors through the toughest times, and we understand just how overwhelming it all can feel.
That’s why we’ve answered the most common questions clients ask us after an aviation disaster.
Why do plane crashes happen? How do crash investigations work? What are your legal rights? Do I need an aviation attorney? Whether you’re looking for peace of mind or considering your legal options, we’re here to make things as clear and accessible as possible.
Aviation accidents naturally raise serious concerns for travelers and their families, but it’s important to put the risks in perspective. Each year, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigates more than 1,000 aviation accidents across the United States. The vast majority of these incidents involve general aviation—private planes, smaller charter flights, and recreational aircraft—rather than commercial airlines.
When it comes to large passenger airlines regulated under Part 121, fatal accidents are extremely rare. Prior to January 29, 2025, the U.S. had not experienced a fatal commercial passenger airline crash since Colgan Air Flight 3407 in 2009, setting a record streak for aviation safety. Unfortunately, that record ended with a tragic midair collision between American Airlines Flight 5342 and a military helicopter at Reagan National Airport, which resulted in 67 fatalities. Incidents like this are heartbreaking reminders, but they remain highly unusual events.
On a global scale, commercial aviation is considered one of the safest forms of travel. Each year, air travel sees roughly 14 to 20 fatal commercial airline crashes worldwide, resulting in approximately 200 to 400 passenger deaths. These numbers reflect a remarkable improvement in industry safety over the past several decades, due to advances in technology, rigorous regulatory oversight, and a cultural commitment to aviation safety.
Aviation accidents typically result from complex chains of events involving multiple contributing factors rather than single causes. While human factors play a significant role in general aviation accidents, commercial aviation presents a different risk profile where mechanical failures, design defects, and maintenance issues are often causes or contributing factors. Plane crashes often involve one or more of the following:
Aircraft and Component Defects: Manufacturing flaws, design defects, faulty software systems, and inadequate safety features can create dangerous conditions. High-profile cases involving commercial aircraft (e.g. Boeing door plug and MAX scandals) highlight how design and manufacturing decisions prioritizing cost savings over safety can lead to catastrophic outcomes.
Maintenance and Inspection Failures: Improper maintenance procedures, inadequate inspections, or use of defective parts can compromise aircraft safety. When airlines outsource maintenance to cut costs or maintenance providers skip critical steps, disasters can happen.
System Integration Issues: Modern aircraft rely on complex interconnected systems where failures can cascade across multiple components. When redundant safety systems fail due to common-mode failures or inadequate design, pilots may face uncontrollable situations.
Human Factors: Pilot error, air traffic control mistakes, and inadequate training contribute to accidents, though these factors are often exacerbated by poor aircraft design, confusing systems, or inadequate safety information provided by manufacturers.
Environmental Conditions: Adverse weather, including wind shear, icing, and turbulence, can challenge aircraft systems and pilot capabilities, particularly when combined with other risk factors.
Understanding these interconnected causes is crucial for determining liability and holding the appropriate parties accountable for causing or contributing to air disasters.
The term pilot error is used to describe mistakes or misjudgments made by the flight crew during the operation of an aircraft. These errors can range from poor decision-making, failure to follow established procedures, lapses in communication, and even incorrect responses under pressure. It could involve anything from simple distractions to critical errors in judgment during complex flight situations.
Across the aviation industry, pilot error remains the leading cause of accidents worldwide. Research estimates that it contributes to anywhere between 50% and over 70% of all aircraft crashes, depending on the type of aviation and specific circumstances. This high percentage reflects the complex and demanding nature of flying, where even highly trained pilots can face situations that challenge human limits.
Importantly, pilot error does not occur in isolation. Often, it is intertwined with other factors—such as mechanical issues, confusing cockpit technology, inadequate training, or external pressures—that can increase the likelihood of mistakes. Aviation safety experts emphasize that understanding pilot error involves looking at the broader context, including organizational culture, training standards, and aircraft design that either help prevent or inadvertently contribute to errors.
Recognizing the role pilot error plays is essential for investigating accidents thoroughly and implementing improved safety measures to reduce risks and protect passengers and crew alike. At Wisner Baum, we understand the complexity behind pilot error and work with experts to uncover all factors involved in aviation accidents to advocate effectively for victims and families.
Plane crashes rarely stem from a single, isolated failure. Most of the time, they happen due to multiple complex interactions within interconnected systems. When safety barriers break down simultaneously, seemingly minor issues can escalate into catastrophic events through what investigators call "cascading failures."
The process typically begins with latent conditions—hidden weaknesses that exist long before an accident occurs. These might include design vulnerabilities in aircraft systems, inadequate maintenance procedures, insufficient training protocols, or organizational pressures that compromise safety decisions. These conditions lie dormant until triggered by an active failure or unexpected event.
During an emergency, multiple systems must work in harmony: aircraft components, human decision-making, communication protocols, and safety procedures. When one system fails, it places additional stress on others. For example, a mechanical malfunction may overload pilots with complex procedures while simultaneously degrading the aircraft's ability to respond normally to their inputs. Environmental factors like severe weather can further compound these challenges.
Critical to understanding aviation accidents is recognizing that modern aircraft are designed with multiple backup systems and safety redundancies. When accidents occur despite these protections, it typically indicates that several independent safety barriers have been compromised simultaneously—a phenomenon investigators study extensively to prevent future occurrences.
The investigation process focuses not just on immediate trigger events, but on understanding how organizational, technical, and human factors combined to create conditions where an accident became possible.
While many plane crashes capture national media attention, it’s important to remember that most plane crashes are actually survivable. Commercial airlines have strict safety standards in place to avoid mass casualty events. Pilots undergo extensive training to prevent catastrophic events. However, when fatal crashes do happen, the aftermath can be devastating.
Fatal plane crashes often involve high-speed impacts, fires, and structural failures leading to severe trauma and limited survivability. They most often occur during take off and landing. Factors such as explosions on impact, post-crash fires, and the inability to evacuate quickly contribute to high fatality rates.
Planes don’t typically explode mid-air or the moment they hit the ground. In fact, explosions are relatively rare in aviation accidents. What happens far more often is a post-crash fire, usually ignited when jet fuel spills from ruptured fuel tanks or damaged wings during impact.
While jet fuel doesn’t ignite on its own, the extreme heat, sparks, and friction generated during a crash create the perfect conditions for flames to erupt. Once a fire starts, it can quickly spread throughout the aircraft, producing toxic smoke and making evacuation extremely difficult.
Explosions can occur, but they are generally the result of unique circumstances, such as severe structural failure in flight, ignition of fuel vapors, or a spark setting off a large pool of spilled fuel almost instantly. In most deadly crashes, however, it is the intensity of post-crash fires—not dramatic explosions—that causes the greatest risk to survivors.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is an independent federal agency in the United States charged with the critical responsibility of investigating civil aviation accidents, along with significant incidents in other transportation modes such as rail, highway, marine, pipeline, and commercial space. Established by Congress to ensure impartiality, the NTSB’s mission is to thoroughly examine the causes of transportation accidents and to make safety recommendations aimed at preventing future tragedies.
When a plane crash occurs, the NTSB plays a vital and multi-faceted role. Its expert investigators respond quickly to the accident scene to conduct meticulous on-site examinations. This includes gathering physical evidence, analyzing the wreckage, and documenting site conditions. The NTSB also retrieves and scrutinizes flight data recorders and cockpit voice recorders, which provide essential insights into the aircraft’s performance and crew communications leading up to the accident.
Beyond the physical investigation, the NTSB interviews witnesses, survivors, air traffic controllers, airline personnel, and others involved to piece together a comprehensive picture of the events. The agency’s investigative process goes far beyond identifying immediate causes; it seeks to understand underlying contributing factors such as mechanical failures, human errors, organizational issues, and systemic safety lapses.
At the conclusion of its investigation, the NTSB publishes a detailed report outlining probable causes and issues formal safety recommendations to the aviation industry, regulatory bodies, and other stakeholders. While the NTSB does not assign legal fault or enforce penalties, its findings carry significant influence in shaping policies, improving aircraft design, enhancing pilot training, and tightening maintenance standards aimed at safeguarding future flights.
No. Although the NTSB report is an important document that provides a comprehensive analysis of an aviation accident, these reports typically take 12 to 24 months or more to be completed due to the thoroughness of the investigation process. Waiting for the official report before seeking legal counsel can delay essential steps needed to protect your rights.
Early legal representation allows your attorney to launch a parallel investigation, which can preserve vital evidence that might otherwise be lost or overlooked as time passes. It also ensures that your rights are protected, especially when dealing with airlines, insurers, and other parties who may act quickly to limit their liability.
Yes. Victims and families affected by aviation accidents that occur outside the United States can often still pursue legal claims and compensation. Many international aviation claims are governed by treaties such as the Montreal Convention, which establishes a global framework for airline liability and passenger rights in the event of injury or death.
While the Montreal Convention sets certain limits on damages and governs jurisdictional rules, it does not prevent victims from seeking compensation—it provides a standardized process for doing so across borders. Navigating this complex legal landscape requires expert knowledge of international law, treaty provisions, and the particular laws of the country where the accident occurred.
An experienced aviation accident attorney with knowledge in international claims can help you navigate jurisdictional challenges, file claims in the appropriate courts, and communicate with foreign airlines, insurers, and government agencies. They ensure your rights are protected no matter where the crash happened and work diligently to secure the full compensation you deserve.
Victims of aviation accidents and their families may be entitled to recover a wide range of damages through a lawsuit, designed to address both tangible losses and intangible suffering caused by the crash. Common types of compensation include:
The total compensation amount depends heavily on the unique facts of each case, including the degree of liability, severity of injuries or loss, and the specific laws governing aviation claims. Aviation accident lawsuits often involve complex negotiations with airlines, manufacturers, and insurers, that’s why having an experienced aviation accident attorney is key.
At Wisner Baum, we carefully evaluate all aspects of your case to ensure you receive fair and full compensation for your physical, emotional, and financial hardships following an aviation disaster.
It’s common for airlines and their insurance companies to offer quick settlements after an aviation accident, but these early offers are often for far less than the true value of your claim. Insurers may use pressure tactics to encourage victims and families to accept a low settlement before the full scope of injuries, damages, and long-term consequences are fully understood.
Accepting an early settlement without consulting an experienced aviation accident lawyer can leave you vulnerable to receiving inadequate compensation—potentially costing you thousands or even millions of dollars in lost recovery. Airlines and insurers prioritize limiting their financial exposure, not meeting your full needs.
Wisner Baum strongly advises that you never accept any settlement offers on your own. We work to ensure you receive fair compensation that addresses all medical costs, lost income, pain and suffering, and future expenses related to the accident.
Proving negligence in an aviation accident case requires demonstrating that a responsible party failed to uphold their duty of care, directly leading to the crash and resulting damages. This can involve uncovering multiple types of evidence, depending on the circumstances, including:
Our attorneys employ the legal discovery process to gather internal airline and manufacturer documents, maintenance logs, training records, and communications that can expose negligence or unsafe practices. We also rely on expert testimony from aviation specialists, engineers, accident reconstructionists, and human factors analysts to interpret technical evidence and establish the cause.
Absolutely. Aviation accidents often involve a complex web of factors, and liability can extend to multiple parties depending on the circumstances. Potentially responsible entities include:
Because aviation accidents are highly technical and frequently involve multiple overlapping causes, identifying every party who may share liability requires thorough investigation and legal expertise. Experienced aviation attorneys carefully analyze evidence, coordinate with experts, and use discovery tools to uncover all potential sources of fault.
Holding all responsible parties accountable is essential not only to secure full compensation for victims but also to promote greater safety standards within the aviation industry. Given the complexity, victims benefit greatly from Wisner Baum’s legal guidance to navigate claims involving multiple defendants.
Yes. At Wisner Baum, our aviation accident lawyers understand that aviation cases are highly technical and require specialized knowledge to uncover the full truth. That’s why we collaborate closely with a network of trusted aviation experts, including forensic engineers, flight data analysts, human factors specialists, and aircraft design professionals.
These experts play an important role in thoroughly investigating every aspect of an accident, from analyzing mechanical failures and reconstructing crashes to interpreting flight data recorder information. Their insights allow us to grasp complex technical details that are essential for building a strong legal case.
By partnering with top industry specialists, we ensure our clients receive the most thorough and well-supported representation possible. This expertise helps us hold all negligent parties accountable and fight for the maximum compensation for victims and their families.
Class actions are extremely rare in aviation accident litigation due to the individualized nature of damages and circumstances. Most aviation lawsuits involving multiple victims are handled as mass tort litigation, often consolidated through multidistrict litigation (MDL) for pretrial proceedings. Individual claims are maintained for general aviation crashes involving few victims.
However, in the aftermath of major aviation disasters involving many victims, coordinated litigation often takes the form of multi-district litigation (MDL). An MDL consolidates related individual lawsuits from multiple jurisdictions into a single federal court to streamline pretrial proceedings, discovery, and settlement negotiations while preserving each plaintiff’s individual claims.
Unlike a class action—where all members share the same outcome and are bound by the verdict or settlement—MDLs allow victims to maintain separate claims reflecting their unique circumstances while benefiting from coordinated legal strategies. In some rare cases, if facts and claims align closely, portions of aviation litigation could potentially move toward class certification, but this is uncommon given the complex and individualized nature of these cases.
At Wisner Baum, we have extensive experience handling a broad range of aviation litigation, from single-victim wrongful death claims to large-scale coordinated MDL proceedings for multi-victim disasters. Our attorneys carefully evaluate every case to determine the best approach, whether pursuing individual claims or joining coordinated actions, to maximize compensation and hold responsible parties accountable.
Aviation lawsuits are often among the most complex and technically demanding types of personal injury or wrongful death cases, so resolving them typically requires significant time and resources. On average, case resolution takes between 18 and 36 months or longer, depending on many factors unique to each claim.
Several key elements contribute to the timeline:
Because every aviation case involves unique facts, circumstances, and legal issues, there is no fixed timeframe. Wisner Baum’s experienced aviation attorneys guide clients through this often lengthy process with transparency and dedicated advocacy, helping you understand what to expect and fighting to achieve timely and just compensation.
The Aviation Disaster Family Assistance Act (ADFAA) is a federal law enacted by the U.S. Congress in 1996 to ensure that families of victims involved in aviation accidents receive timely, compassionate, and coordinated support from airlines and government agencies. The law mandates clear responsibilities for the NTSB, domestic airlines, and designated non-profit organizations to provide essential services to survivors and families after an aviation disaster.
Under the ADFAA, the NTSB must designate a director of family support services to serve as the primary federal contact and liaison between the federal government, the airline, and affected families. The Act also requires the appointment of an experienced independent nonprofit organization to coordinate emotional care and support, including mental health counseling.
The ADFAA applies to aviation accidents occurring within U.S. airspace or waters where the NTSB is the lead investigative agency involving significant loss of life, including those with foreign air carriers under the related Foreign Air Carrier Family Support Act of 1997.
At Wisner Baum, our experienced aviation accident lawyers are dedicated to providing compassionate, knowledgeable, and aggressive representation from the very start. We understand the challenges these cases present, and we are committed to guiding you through every step with clarity and care.
With four decades of combined experience, our attorneys have a proven track record of success in securing maximum compensation for families and survivors affected by aviation disasters. We leverage deep legal experience alongside a network of aviation experts, engineers, and investigators to build strong cases that hold negligent parties accountable.
Choosing Wisner Baum means gaining a trusted legal partner who prioritizes your rights, fights to protect your interests, and relentlessly pursues justice on your behalf. We offer a free, confidential consultation so you can get the answers you need and begin taking action without delay.
If you or a loved one has been affected by an aviation accident, don’t wait. Contact Wisner Baum’s experienced aviation accident lawyers today for a free consultation. We are ready to fight for your rights and secure the compensation you deserve.