Military helicopter crash aviation accident lawsuit Talk to Lawyer Attorney -Product Liability Legal Action

MILITARY HELICOPTER CRASH & AVIATION ACCIDENT LAWSUITS

Unfortunately, crashes of military helicopters are becoming all too common. While many of the helicopter accidents are a result of hostile fire, other times the helicopter crash is the result of poor maintenance, worn out parts, pilot error, manufacturing defects military helicopters iraq

and design of the helicopter or aircraft. Special legal defenses exist for the United States and its government contractors in litigation arising from government and military air crashes, which are not available to civilian aircraft operators and manufacturers.

Under certain circumstances, a product liability lawsuit may be available to the victims of a military helicopter crash or other military aviation accidents.The status of the victim or military and whether the victim is military or civilian, and under which set of laws and rules apply must be determined, and the case must investigated and prosecuted under strict guidelines. Due to the complexity of the military crash, a crash victim or family member needs to talk with an attorney to investigate and timely file all necessary claims and lawsuits. All actions in military and civilians crashes are governed by statutes of limitations. If a claimant fails to timely file, then their rights to file a lawsuit may be barred. (TALK TO AN ATTORNEY NOW)

GOVERNMENT IMMUNITY - MILITARY AIRCRAFT ACCIDENTS

The Supreme Court of the United States created exception to the federal government's waiver of sovereign immunity under the Federal Tort Claims Act, and is commonly known as the Feres Doctrine, when it ruled that the government is immune from lawsuits for injuries to service personnel due to activities which are "incident to service. The courts justification for denying the military personnel the right to sue for a injury or death when it occurs "incident to service," is due to the special nature of the federal military service involved and associated risks.

LEGAL ACTIONS IN MILITARY HELICOPTER / PLANE CRASHES

In cases where military personnel are severely injured or killed, the legal remedies (lawsuits) against the armed services or the US Government are severely restricted, however lawsuits and other legal actions against the helicopter or aircraft manufacturers may be available to the victims.

To bring a products liability lawsuit against a aircraft or parts manufacturer, the plaintiff (injured party or surviving family member) must prove that the helicopter or aircraft which crashed was "unreasonably dangerous" and defective in design or manufacture, or that the aircraft or part maker failed to warn of an unsafe condition. The defendants in these types of product liability cases will often rely on the Government Contractor's Defense which was written to protect product makers from lawsuits where the design of the military aircraft, helicopter or equipment is at issue.

The government contractors defense applies when the military design meets government specifications, even if later it is proved that it is a faulty design itself. The unreasonably dangerous standard is used by plaintiffs to prove defective design under the laws of some states. In other states, a risk-utility balancing test is used to evaluate whether the military product was defective. The key to recovery is whether there was a safer alternative design of the product when it was manufactured.

MILITARY ACCIDENT INVESTIGATIONS - KEPT SECRET

Military crashes are investigated by and are under the jurisdiction of the Military Safety Board. This Board prepares a secret report much of which is not released to the public concerning the mishap or accident. In some accidents, an additional report called a collateral report may be prepared. The collateral report is usually made public, but doesn't contain the manufacturer's conclusions or any witness statements that are the basis of the secret investigation. This secrecy and lack of details and facts hampers the ability to bring a lawsuit and finding out what happened. No technical consultant, aviation expert or engineer or aviation lawyer representing survivors are permitted to participate in the investigation or to learn the results. Even more alarming to the truth is the key military and manufacturing witnesses interviewed by the safety board are promised that their statements will not be disclosed to the civilian community.The safety investigative team relies heavily on assistance from the manufacturers, but their reports are kept secret. The expectation is that the manufacturer's representatives will point out any defect in the product of the company that they work for and that they would be more willing to do so if the investigative report is not shared with the public.However, many time the opposite occurs, and the product manufacturer is there directing any bad press or liability exposure away from his or her own company. Truly a case of the "fox guarding the hen house"