What Recourse Do You Have If You Are Injured Due to Airline Staff Negligence?

When passengers board a commercial flight, they place great trust in airline companies to provide safe and responsible transportation. But despite regulations and training protocols, the high-pressure aviation industry still sees instances of staff negligence leading to passenger harm.

If you suffer injuries mid-flight due to a safety breach or negligent act by airline crew, staff, or contractors, you may have grounds for legal action. By understanding liability laws, gathering solid evidence, and consulting an experienced aviation attorney, injured passengers can recover damages for losses and injuries they suffer.

Key Legal Principles Governing Airline Liability

Under the common carrier liability concept, airlines must uphold the highest safety precautions for passengers in return for customer business. As transport providers inviting the public to fly on aircraft, they are held to a higher accountability standard compared to private flights.

If an airline fails to take reasonable care to protect passengers from foreseeable risks and harms, they breach their duty. Through negligent actions like ignoring safety protocols, refusing to address known hazards, failing to contain disruptive passengers, or acting recklessly, airlines can bear responsibility for any resulting passenger injuries both on the ground and in flight.

Some examples of potentially negligent behaviors include:

• Allowing mechanical issues or aircraft damage to persist unaddressed
• Failing to properly secure luggage and cargo
• Not cleaning up spills in a timely manner leading to slips and falls
• Flying into forecasted dangerous weather like severe turbulence or hail
• Providing inadequate response to passenger medical emergencies
• Poorly communicating emergency protocols and safety rules
• Failing to avoid turbulence when possible

If any such safety breaches directly contribute to a passenger becoming injured, the airline must provide compensation proportional to the losses and impacts suffered. The amount of damages owed depends on factors like:

• Medical treatment expenses
• Severity and duration of injuries
• Lost income from missed work time
• Necessary equipment purchases or home healthcare
• Pain and suffering
• Emotional distress
• Loss of enjoyment/activities
• Disability status

Skilled aviation accident lawyers can leverage various forms of evidence to calculate total current and future accident costs. Relying on legal principles like negligence and product liability, they can establish the airline’s culpability and duty to appropriately compensate affected passengers.

Gathering Documentation to Prove Legal Liability

In order to have a strong personal injury claim against an airline, a passenger needs solid proof that proves all the elements of negligence as far as the airline’s conduct or inaction is concerned. Skilled aviation lawyers have the resources and expertise to collect important evidence like:

• Airport and Aircraft Records – Inspection logs, communications data, flight plans, and reports can reveal overlooked mechanical issues, policy violations, insufficient weather precautions, and other safety breaches.
• Personnel Statements – Depositions from pilots, flight attendants, gate agents or other airline staff often uncover failures to address passenger complaints, adhere to protocols, communicate hazards, or take corrective actions.
• Passenger Testimony – Eyewitness accounts from others onboard help establish timelines, aviation standard breaches, safety hazards, and injury causes.
• Flight Data – Black box recordings, radar information, and cockpit transcripts shed light on turbulence encounters, equipment malfunctions, weather briefings, landing impacts, and abnormal corrections.
• Medical Reports – Physician records prove a passenger’s injury cause, type, severity level, treatment plan, impairment status, recovery trajectory, and recommendation of future accommodations.
• Incident Photographs – Images depicting unsafe conditions like spilled liquids, escaped luggage carts, malfunctioning equipment, improper restraints, and other hazards show negligence.
• Expert Witnesses – Veteran pilots, aviation safety specialists, biomechanics engineers, and doctors can provide opinions on where airline procedures failed and how the incident caused specific passenger injuries.

Using the above documentation, attorneys can reconstruct the sequence of events, pinpoint breaches of care, and request appropriate compensation on a passenger’s behalf.

Steps to Take If You Are Injured While Flying

If you end up suffering serious injuries due to the negligence of flight crew, be sure to take these key actions:

Report It Immediately

• Notify airline personnel promptly and request to formally document the incident. Provide extensive details on how the injury occurred, who was involved, what harm you sustained, and any contributing conditions you noticed.
• Ask to include contact information for any witnesses in the report.
• Request a copy of the report record when complete.

Get Examined and Treated

• Upon landing, get examined by an airport medic even for minor injuries so there is prompt third-party confirmation documented. For major injuries, go to the nearest hospital emergency room.
• Disclose all symptoms and pains to treating physicians no matter how slight so they can fully diagnose impacts.
• Follow all recommended treatment plans, rehabilitation exercises, and further exam referrals.

Collect Documentation

• Gather witness names and contact information. Ask them to write down specifics they observed.
• Take photos of any evidence like unsafe conditions, spills, equipment damage or malfunctions, and so on.
• Obtain a copy of the airline’s official incident report when finalized.
• Request copies of all medical reports and discharge papers from treating physicians.

Contact an Attorney

To understand if your injury claim meets the eligibility criteria for an airline liability lawsuit in your state, consult with an experienced aviation accident attorney immediately. Early involvement ensures quick action to preserve evidence before it gets lost and initiate settlement negotiations while the incident is fresh. Attorneys can also manage all communications so you can focus fully on recovery.

Keep Extensive Records

Carefully retain all treatment invoices, medication/equipment receipts, pay stubs showing lost work wages, rehabilitation bills, and other documentation so your lawyer can accurately calculate current and future accident losses for settlement discussions.

Answers to Common Airline Injury Claim Questions

For further clarity on the airline injury claim process, here are answers to some frequently asked questions:

What If My Harm Was Caused by Turbulence or Poor Weather?

Even if factors like severe turbulence or lightning technically caused the incident, the airline may share liability if pilots flew into dangerous forecasted conditions they could reasonably have avoided. Airlines must keep passengers continually apprised of weather issues in the flight path and reroute if safety is compromised.

Can I Claim Emotional Distress Without Physical Harm?

Courts allow emotional distress claims related to in-flight incidents but the circumstances typically must involve a threat of bodily injury due to airline negligence. Examples include severe turbulence causing a crash scare, violent engine explosions, or loss of aircraft control. The mental anguish must also be formally diagnosed by a psychiatrist, psychologist, or doctor as a condition like panic disorder or PTSD.

What If the Airline Denies Responsibility for My Injury?

Do not take an airline’s initial denial of fault at face value. Airlines will often reflexively deny liability to avoid paying damages. Skilled aviation attorneys thoroughly investigate incidents to build cases against an airline’s position. Many claims settle favorably before reaching trial. An attorney sends a strong message that you will vigorously pursue compensation.

How Long Do I Have to File My Airline Injury Claim?

Each state sets legal time limits on personal injury claims, typically 1 to 6 years depending on claim type. To avoid exceeding your state’s statute of limitations and losing your right to sue, talk to an aviation lawyer immediately after an airline injury incident. They act quickly to gather time-sensitive evidence and initiate settlement talks while the details are still fresh.

Will My Settlement Cover Future Medical Costs?

If your injury causes lasting impairment expected to require ongoing future treatment like surgery, therapy, rehabilitation, or medication, your settlement should cover projected lifetime care costs. Attorneys use medical reports, physician testimony, and actuarial data to calculate and justify compensation for future accident impacts.

Final Considerations

Getting injured while flying can cause immense stress and cost if airlines do not provide accountability and appropriate redress. However, by understanding legal liability principles, collecting solid documentation, working with an experienced attorney, and diligently tracking expenses, injured passengers can successfully recover damages for their losses.

Related reading: How to Survive Plane Rides With Kids