It was all over the news recently - US Airways flight 1549 landed with drama but without injury in the Hudson river in New York. How frequent such extreme events seem to have become; how rarely that they end so happily. With even this relatively short distance hindsight, the entire episode seems surreal, even to the average citizen/nightly news gawker. What a bad dream it must seem to those passengers…
Dayton airplane accident lawyers, along with the rest of the country, watched as, smoothly, the mechanisms of personal injury law began to move. As reported in the media, cash awards to all involved seemed almost a given. This, too, seems strange at first glance. Surely, a crash that ends in tragedy rather than novelty deserves payouts for those involved (or, more likely, the surviving families of those involved). This is not to minimize the pain and suffering surely experienced by those on flight 1549 (and probably to be experienced for some time in lasting residual effects), but rather to ask why a faultless, act-of-God situation which ends safely requires compensation payouts by anyone. Certainly, US Airways can’t be seen as responsible in any meaningful way: birds hit planes. It happens, usually without incident.
Further complicating the legal landscape are claims by some that because the plane end up floating in navigable waters, it may be subject to maritime laws - that is, those laws concerning boats, ships, and other water vessels. What initially seems a very odd case of legal-ese superseding logic becomes a bit clearer by recognizing that definitions of vessels - legal definitions, that is - can be vague or potentially misinterpreted. What is a boat but a vessel carrying passengers on water? This angle has yet to be resolved, but could prove an interesting challenge for the law.
Payouts are different from financial settlements, and both are different from damages awarded. Which of these, if any, will be borne out of the legal fallout of flight 1549 remains to be seen.
Airplane accidents are significant - always. In this way, they can differ from other types of accidents and cases under Ohio personal injury law. There is no such thing as a “fender bender” airplane accident. And for this very reason - high stakes, high interest, high pressure - the expert advice of a Dayton airplane accident law firm should always be sought before making any legal decisions after an accident.
If you or a loved one is in need of legal assistance, call an Ohio personal injury attorney at 1-937-228-9000 or toll free 1-888-841-4529 or submit an online questionnaire. The initial consultation is free of charge, and if we agree to handle your case, we will work on a contingency fee basis, which means we get paid for our services only if there is a monetary recovery of funds. In many cases, a lawsuit must be filed before an applicable expiration date, known as a statute of limitations. Please call right away to ensure that you do not waive your right to possible compensation.
