Compensating Airplane Accident Victims and Survivors: A National Responsibility

Are you one of those people who have an inexplicable fright with flying and airplanes? Every one of us has that nervous reaction with the thought of having to ride airplanes and actually be high above the ground.

It is because we have one dominant thought in our heads. What will happen if something very wrong occurs during the flight? Isn’t it very terrible to contemplate?

Airplane accidents per se are tragic. Being in an airplane accident is simply devastating and horrifying. There would be no words to describe how terrifying it would be if a loved one or we become a victim of this kind of tragedy.

Annually, airplane accidents always find its way into the headlines of news stories. In every such occurrence, there is always the loss of lives that bring excessive trauma to their survivors.

Losing a loved one is a painful experience. However, untimely losing someone we love to an airplane accident is very excruciating.

What are the causes of airplane accidents, by the way? Who is primarily at fault or liable for such incidents?

According to a survey of 2,147 airplane and/or aircraft accidents starting 1950 – 2004, the determined causes of airplane accidents within such period are the following:

- 45% are due to Pilot error, either weather related or mechanical related.

- 33% are undetermined or missing in the record

- 13% are due to mechanical failure

- 7% are because of the effects of the weather

- 5% are because of sabotage

- 4% are due to human error like error in controlling the air traffic, loading of aircraft improperly, incorrect maintenance measures, contamination of fuel, misunderstanding, etc.

- 1% comprise other causes

This survey however does not include private, military and charter aircrafts.

This survey shows that there is a big possibility of liability for airplane accidents. Therefore, if you have been a survivor or have lost a relative through an airplane accident, it is possible for you to file for an aviation accident claim to recover damages caused by the injuries or loss you have gone through.

In the United States, there is assistance provided to survivors of airplane accident victims according to type and place of the accident. Victims of smaller airplane accidents that took place outside of the country provide limited financial assistance to the victim’s beneficiaries. On the other hand, major aviation accidents that took place within the U.S. skies can grant the victims’ survivors with benefits through a complex interaction of state and federal laws along with the international law.

Under certain federal laws, airline companies are given post-accident requirements, which they have to follow. These requirements include setting up of services for family support like grief counseling, deployment of individual caregivers, assisting families in identifying remains and possessions of their loved one, setting up a communications network and other needed services by the surviving family members of victims.

Each survivor of airplane accident victims can benefit a lot from availing of various aviation accident claims.

Aside from the airline company, smaller commuters and commercial aircraft operators offer their voluntary services during and after airplane accidents. Institutions like the Red Cross also go out to give their services.

Dispensing of adequate airplane accident claims and services to the survivors and surviving families are but small comfort in place of their loss. Still, it is their legal right to receive or avail of such claims.