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San Diego Aviation Accident Lawyer
SAN DIEGO’S TOP TRIAL AND ACCIDENT LAWYERS
Aviation accidents can occur at any time and any place, and they often lead to tragic results. Because of the severity of most crashes, victims are often killed. Those that survive are left with catastrophic injuries such as burns, brain, spinal cord or amputation injuries. If you or a loved one is a victim of an aviation accident, please give our firm a call at (619) 237-3490. We advise and represent victims and their loved ones across the United States, and we are committed to getting the best result for you.
AVIATION ACCIDENT LAWSUITS ARE COMPLEX
Aviation accident lawsuits are highly technical and require attorneys who can thoroughly analyze the relevant facts in light of the complex legal procedures. Our attorneys will investigate and, when appropriate, litigate the responsibility of pilots, airliners, manufacturers, maintenance personnel, component suppliers, or any other party responsible for the negligent or reckless conduct that led to the catastrophic consequences of the aviation accident.
Litigating these types of cases also requires sophistication and ample resources. Our firm partners with attorneys who are licensed commercial pilots and experts nationwide to ensure the best results for our clients.
SAN DIEGO AIRPORTS AND WHO RUNS THEM
The airport a flight used tells you which public agency could be involved in a claim. Three different public bodies run the main airfields in San Diego County.
- San Diego International Airport (SAN) is run by the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority.
- Montgomery-Gibbs Executive Airport and Brown Field Airport are the City of San Diego’s two general aviation airports. Brown Field sits 1.5 miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border.
- The County of San Diego runs seven airports: Gillespie Field in El Cajon (the oldest and largest), McClellan-Palomar Airport in Carlsbad, Ramona Airport, Fallbrook Airpark, Borrego Valley Airport, Jacumba Airport and Ocotillo Airport.
That matters because claims against public agencies run on a shorter clock. If a city, county or other California public entity may share the blame, for example through a hazard on airport property, Government Code § 911.2 requires a written claim within six months after the claim accrues, which is usually the date of the injury or death. That is well before the usual two-year deadline for a lawsuit.
Crashes here do not always happen at the airport. On October 11, 2021, a Cessna 340A flying from Yuma, Arizona to Montgomery-Gibbs crashed onto a residential street in Santee. The pilot and one person on the ground were killed, and two other people on the ground were seriously injured. The NTSB’s final report found the probable cause was loss of control due to spatial disorientation.
THE NTSB, THE FAA AND YOUR CASE
Two federal agencies get involved after a crash, and they do different jobs. The FAA sets the safety rules, including minimum standards for how aircraft are designed and built and how they are inspected and serviced. The NTSB is an independent federal agency that investigates civil aircraft accidents and determines the probable cause. Crashes involving only military aircraft fall outside its authority, but it does investigate accidents involving both military and civil aircraft.
The NTSB investigation is not run for victims or their families. The investigator in charge can name parties to help, and party status is limited to people, government agencies and organizations whose employees, functions, activities or products were involved in the accident, such as the operator or the aircraft manufacturer. Under the NTSB’s rules, no party representative may be a person who also represents claimants or insurers.
Federal law also limits what a jury can hear. Under 49 U.S.C. § 1154(b), no part of an NTSB report on an accident may be admitted into evidence or used in a civil lawsuit for damages. The NTSB’s own regulation separates the Board’s report, which holds its probable-cause determination, from the factual accident report, which records what investigators found. Factual reports are not barred. Either way, your case needs its own experts to prove what went wrong and who caused it.
Evidence can go quickly. The aircraft’s operator must preserve the wreckage and the flight, maintenance and recorder records, but that federal duty lasts only until the NTSB takes custody or releases them. A lawyer should send written preservation demands to the owner, operator, maintenance shop and insurers as early as possible.
PAID FLIGHTS AND THE “UTMOST CARE” RULE
If you paid for the flight, California law asks more of the operator than ordinary care. Civil Code § 2100 says a carrier of persons for reward “must use the utmost care and diligence for their safe carriage,” must provide everything necessary for that purpose, and must use a reasonable degree of skill. Section 2101 adds that the carrier must provide vehicles “safe and fit for the purposes to which they are put.” A paid charter, sightseeing flight or airline ticket can bring these rules into play.
A pilot giving a friend a free ride still owes ordinary care. Civil Code § 2096 says a carrier of persons without reward “must use ordinary care and diligence for their safe carriage.” International trips can fall under a separate treaty, the Montreal Convention.
WHAT KIND OF AVIATION ACCIDENTS DO WE HANDLE?
The San Diego aviation accident attorneys at Gomez Trial Attorneys have the experience and resources to handle any type of aviation accident case. Among the type of cases our lawyers have handled are:
- Domestic commercial airline accidents
- International commercial airline accidents
- General aviation and small plane accidents
- Model remote plane accidents
- Helicopter crashes
- Sightseeing tour crashes
- Air ambulance crashes
- Military aircraft crashes
- Air charter crashes
INTERNATIONAL FLIGHTS AND THE MONTREAL CONVENTION
The Montreal Convention is a treaty covering international carriage of passengers by air. It applies when the departure and destination are in two countries that have joined it, or when a trip starts and ends in one member country with an agreed stop in another country. The United States and Mexico are both parties.
- The airline is liable for death or bodily injury caused by an accident on board the aircraft or while passengers are embarking or disembarking (Article 17).
- Up to a threshold set in the treaty, the airline cannot exclude or limit that liability. Above it, the airline avoids paying only if it proves the harm was not caused by negligence of the airline or its staff or agents, or was caused solely by a third party (Article 21).
- An injured passenger, or the family of one who died, may be able to sue in the country where the passenger had a principal and permanent residence, if the airline flies passengers to or from that country and does business there (Article 33). For a San Diego resident, that can mean a U.S. court even when the crash happened abroad.
- The right to damages is extinguished if a lawsuit is not filed within two years of arrival at the destination, the date the aircraft should have arrived, or the date the carriage stopped (Article 35).
SMALL PLANES, HELICOPTERS AND THE 18-YEAR RULE
Federal law treats an aircraft as a “general aviation aircraft” if it was certified with a maximum seating capacity of fewer than 20 passengers and was not flying scheduled passenger service at the time of the accident. That covers many private planes, small charters and helicopters.
For those aircraft, the General Aviation Revitalization Act (GARA) bars most claims against the manufacturer of the aircraft, or of a part, when the crash happens more than 18 years after the aircraft was first delivered. A replacement or added part gets its own 18-year clock, which starts when it was installed. An older airplane with a newer engine part, autopilot or other component can still support a product liability claim against the company that made that part, if that part is alleged to have caused the crash.
The 18-year bar does not apply when:
- the person hurt or killed was not aboard the aircraft
- the person was a passenger being flown for medical or other emergency treatment, such as an air ambulance patient
- the manufacturer knowingly misrepresented to the FAA, or concealed or withheld from it, required information about the performance, maintenance or operation of the aircraft or part that is causally related to the harm, which must be pleaded with specific facts and proved
- the claim is under a written warranty
GARA protects manufacturers only, and only in their role as manufacturers. It does not limit claims against the pilot, the owner, the charter operator or a maintenance shop.
SAN DIEGO AVIATION ACCIDENT FAQS
HOW LONG DO I HAVE TO FILE AN AVIATION ACCIDENT CLAIM IN CALIFORNIA?
Usually two years for injury or wrongful death, under Code of Civil Procedure § 335.1. Some claims run on a different clock. A claim against a California public entity, such as a city or county airport operator, must be presented within six months. A claim against the United States must be presented in writing to the federal agency within two years. On an international flight covered by the Montreal Convention, the lawsuit itself must be filed within two years.
CAN I USE THE NTSB REPORT TO PROVE MY CASE?
Not the Board’s report. Federal law bars any part of an NTSB accident report from being admitted into evidence or used in a civil lawsuit for damages. NTSB rules say the separate factual accident report, which records what investigators found, is not barred. Your case still needs its own experts to explain why the crash happened.
WHAT IF AN AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER MADE A MISTAKE?
If an FAA air traffic controller was negligent, the claim is against the United States under the Federal Tort Claims Act, the law that covers negligence by federal employees. You cannot file suit right away. The claim must first be presented in writing to the federal agency within two years (28 U.S.C. § 2401(b)). A lawsuit can follow only after the agency denies the claim in writing or six months pass without a final decision. If the agency denies it, the lawsuit must be filed within six months of the date the denial was mailed. The Act does not cover government contractors, and some airport towers are FAA contract towers staffed by private companies’ employees rather than FAA employees, so it matters who employed the controller.
I WAS HURT ON THE GROUND WHEN A PLANE CRASHED. DO I HAVE A CLAIM?
You can. California’s general negligence rule, Civil Code § 1714, makes everyone responsible for injuries caused by a lack of ordinary care in managing their property or themselves, and that includes pilots and aircraft owners. GARA’s 18-year limit on suing manufacturers does not apply to anyone who was not aboard the aircraft. In the 2021 Santee crash, three of the four people killed or seriously injured were on the ground.
WHO CAN FILE A WRONGFUL DEATH CLAIM AFTER A FATAL CRASH?
Under Code of Civil Procedure § 377.60, the surviving spouse or domestic partner, children, and the children of a deceased child can bring the claim. If the person who died left no children or other descendants, the people who would inherit under California’s intestate succession rules can bring it, including a surviving spouse or domestic partner. Parents, stepchildren and a putative spouse can also sue if they depended on the person who died, as can a minor who lived in the household for the 180 days before the death and relied on that person for at least half of their support.
Our firm offers free consultation in all aviation accident lawsuits and are available to meet nationwide. We take cases on a contingency basis, which means that you don’t pay any legal fees unless we recover compensation for you through a settlement or trial.
If you are a victim or a loved one of a victim who was involved in an aviation accident, please give us a call. Our attorneys and staff will walk you through the process and do our very best to get the maximum compensation for your injuries or loss.