Aviation

Air travel is safer than ground travel, but only when airlines put safety before profit. Most aviation disasters, whether commercial or recreational, could have been easily avoided.

We have been involved in numerous air disaster cases. Following the crash of Flight 587 in Long Island, the litigation we and others pursued against American Airlines received international attention. Watts Law Firm learned exactly what happened, and recoveries ensued.

We have also litigated several cases against Bell Helicopter Co. for defective design and maintenance. When a Bell 407 helicopter made an emergency landing in the Gulf of Mexico because of engine failure, two people lost their lives and three others were severely injured. We sued the biggest helicopter manufacturer, the biggest engine manufacturer and the company that failed to maintain the aircraft. We also represented the families of passengers killed when a new Bell 412 helicopter with less than 100 hours of flight time crashed in El Salvador. The helicopter had been sent on a special mission by the Salvadoran Air Force to evacuate a family under attack from guerrillas in Guatemala. The family was aboard the helicopter when it crashed on the return trip.