Particularly in the air over and around Las Vegas, air travel is increasing. Helicopter and small plane tours are booming, and there’s heavier air traffic in and out of McCarran and Northtown Airports every year. As more people travel by air, more of us are exposed to the possibility of injury in an air traffic mishap. Thankfully, large airliner crashes are becoming rare, but the many accidents involving chartered planes and small private planes often receive scant media attention.

Yet these smaller crashes result in dozens of serious injuries and deaths each year, right here in Nevada. Air crashes may be caused by pilot error, negligent maintenance, equipment malfunction, and poor weather conditions. If you are involved in any kind of accident involving air travel in Nevada, you may be eligible to seek compensation. A court may determine that a pilot, maintenance crew, control tower personnel, manufacturer, or airplane owner is partly or entirely to blame for your harm.

In any air tragedy that leads to a personal injury case, the plaintiff must prove neglect, faulty equipment design, or some other failure to meet aircraft operation or design standards. Crashes, of course, are not the only incidents that can result in air travel injuries. Falling luggage from overhead storage, excessive air turbulence, fellow passengers, and even aircraft crew members have been responsible for air travel injuries in the recent past.

Any claims of injury caused by aircraft accidents require an in-depth examination of the craft’s condition, the applicable FAA regulations, and governing aviation law. You may be awarded compensation for your medical expenses, for any lost wages or lost earning capacity, pain and suffering, and in some cases, even punitive damages.

If you are the victim of a personal injury due to an air traffic mishap, immediately speak to a personal injury attorney with experience in air travel cases. Your personal injury attorney can assess your situation, explain your legal options, and guide you through the legal procedures governing personal injury in Nevada. An experienced personal injury attorney will fight for your rights and for the compensation you deserve.

Air Travel and Children

In-flight turbulence is the leading cause of injury to children on airplanes. Researchers are now recommending that if it’s at all possible, it’s simply better not to fly with children under the age of two. “Lap” infants held by a parent are at serious risk for a turbulence-related injury; some have been thrown from the parent’s arms into another row of seats. Small children with respiratory issues may also react negatively to the lower oxygen levels on airplanes. Children are frequently injured on planes, but infant deaths are rare; in almost all of the fatalities, the child was less than two years old and flying internationally.

In any airplane accident that results in a personal injury, the victim must show that neglect, faulty design, or some other failure to meet operation or design standards was the direct cause of the injury. If you or someone you love is the victim of a personal injury due to an air traffic mishap, speak at once to a personal injury lawyer with experience in air travel cases. Your personal injury lawyer can investigate the accident, assess your situation, outline your legal options, and direct you through the personal injury process in Nevada. Let an experienced Las Vegas personal injury attorney will fight for the compensation you need and the justice you deserve.

How to Survive A Plane Crash

In a study of fatal air crashes from 1983 to 2000, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) found that 40 percent of the fatalities in these crashes were survivable. Here are some basic tips that might help you survive a plane crash:

  • Choose your seat wisely. The key is sitting near an exit. If possible, be no more than 5 rows from an exit.
  • Use the first 90 seconds wisely. Surviving the crash doesn’t put you in the clear. It takes about 90 seconds for fire to burn through a fuselage and destroy whatever has survived. Get out.
  • Stay in shape. You may need to navigate quickly through scattered baggage and wreckage, move heavy luggage, or slip through a narrow exit.
  • If you have a choice, fly a bigger plane. Bigger planes provide more energy absorption in a crash. Also if you have the choice, choose a national carrier; regionals have twice as many accidents (per passenger) as national carriers.
  • Know where exits are. Size up the scene so that without lights, you’ll know where you are. If you’re with your family, be sure everyone knows the survival plan.
  • If the oxygen mask drops, use it. Only a few moments without oxygen can hurt you, and a plane crash is a time when you need all of your abilities at full capacity.
  • Don’t sleep; avoid drinking before or during a flight; wear your shoes (women should probably wear flats); and buckle your seatbelt secure, low, and tight.

If you’re injured in a plane crash, a good personal injury lawyer will be able to evaluate your case, explain your options, and guide you through the legal procedures you’ll face if you file a personal injury claim. If you talk to an insurance company, anything you provide in a written or spoken statement could be twisted and used against you. Don’t sign any documents or forms from an insurance company, either; you could be signing away rights. Let your attorney do any talking or negotiating with the insurance company. A good personal injury lawyer routinely handles similar cases and knows what it takes to win the maximum compensation for victims of negligence. You may be able to recover immediate and future medical expenses, lost wages, and more. Your lawyer will either reach an acceptable agreement with the insurance company or take it to court and tell your story to a jury of your peers. If you sustain any aircraft-related personal injury now or in the future, seek out the services of an experienced Las Vegas personal injury attorney immediately.

If you are the victim of a personal injury due to an air traffic mishap, immediately speak to a personal injury attorney with experience in air travel cases. Your personal injury attorney can assess your situation, explain your legal options, and guide you through the legal procedures governing personal injury in Nevada. An experienced personal injury attorney will fight for your rights and for the compensation you deserve.