An airplane accident causes immediate and catastrophic permanent consequences, including irreversible spine damage, severe traumatic brain injury (TBI), grievous burns, and wrongful death. This is no fender bender. It is a complex, serious legal battle. The technical evidence in a lawsuit includes flight data, air traffic control transcripts, maintenance logs, and the defendants are powerful global corporations, manufacturers, and multi-billion-dollar insurers. They use every resource available to shift blame and reduce payouts. If you want to fight for your justice, you need a legal advocate experienced in dealing with the complexities of aviation law and its multi-jurisdictional nature.

If you are involved in or suffer the loss of life of a person due to a plane crash, the first and foremost action you need to take is to get a legal team specializing in catastrophic aviation litigation. Do not sign any paper or accept any airline offer without independent legal advice. Las Vegas attorneys at Dallas Horton & Associates will thoroughly examine the accident and fight for the lifetime compensation you need and deserve. Your legal response is essential for your healing and your future security.

The Role of the NTSB and FAA

When an airplane accident occurs, a complex federal response begins, which is intended to determine the facts in the case and avoid a future crash. The two main government agencies involved are:

  • The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB)
  • The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)

The NTSB is the independent federal agency responsible for investigating any civil aviation accident in the U.S. When an accident occurs, the NTSB quickly sends a specialized team of experts to the crash scene. The team has experts in operations, structures, power plants, and human performance disciplines.

The NTSB does not apportion blame to any one person or party. Their investigation is not a legal proceeding. It is a fact-finding process. It does not determine guilt or liability. Based on its investigative findings, the NTSB makes official safety recommendations to regulators, transportation service providers, and manufacturers. They also manage the “Party System.” The system allows various parties to join in the investigations supervised by the NTSB. Under the supervision of the NTSB, the airline, manufacturer, and unions may participate in the investigation and serve as technical resources. However, the investigators continue to be independent.

The agency in charge of aviation safety in the United States is the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The NTSB will lead the investigation, but because the FAA is automatically an interested party, it will have an important and different role.

The FAA is concerned with whether or not any federal aviation regulations were violated during the events leading up to the crash. They offer technical support and regulatory insight for the NTSB. The FAA grants and revokes pilot licenses and air carrier operating certificates. Findings will be used to modify pilot training and air traffic control procedures and maintenance standards so regulatory compliance occurs in the future.

Every aviation investigation focuses on finding and examining the aircraft’s two crash-protected flight recorders, also called the “black boxes” (which are actually orange in color). The rear of the plane often has a higher chance of surviving a crash, which is why black boxes are sometimes found there.

  • The cockpit voice recorder (CVR) records all sounds in the cockpit area. This includes crew conversation, radio speakers, and other ambient sounds (for instance, engine and stall warning sounds). The CVR provides valuable data about human factors and crew activities before the accident.
  • A flight data recorder (FDR) is a device that automatically collects and records various flight data from the flight deck. This includes information about altitude, airspeed, heading, and flap position, among thousands of others. The FDR helps investigators make a computerized video of the flight path and operation leading to the crash, allowing them to find mechanical or systemic failures.

The NTSB's determination of probable cause will be based on the information and data retrieved from these two recorders, wreckage analysis, and witness testimony. These data will also be the basis for any future actions for negligence.

Nevada's "Common Carrier" Standard

The law offers a great advantage if you pursue a catastrophic injury or wrongful death claim against an airline. Nevada’s “common carrier” law applies in these claims. The airline’s responsibility under this standard is much higher than the usual negligence standard.

A “common carrier,” under Nevada law, is any company that holds itself out to the public as ready and willing to transport passengers or goods for a fee. Importantly, this definition applies universally to airlines carrying passengers.

Nevada law classifies air carriers as common carriers, imposing a duty much higher than reasonable care for a driver in a car crash case. This higher standard recognizes your significant vulnerability as a passenger, since you have placed your faith in the carrier’s crew and equipment.

According to the law, common carriers must use the highest degree of care and diligence for the passengers’ safety. The Nevada Supreme Court has consistently held that common carriers are liable for causing injury to their passengers through their slightest negligence, against which human prudence and foresight should have guarded.

This contrasts sharply with general negligence law, where a party only has to act as a reasonably prudent person would under the same circumstances. The airline responsible for your flight has a standard that requires it to take all reasonable precautions to keep you safe.

This duty extends to the following:

  • Maintenance, which refers to keeping the aircraft in a safe and airworthy condition
  • Training and supervising all employees properly, like the pilots, mechanics, and flight attendants
  • During operations, exercising all possible caution during takeoff, landing, and turbulence
  • Companies are responsible for keeping boarding ramps, gate areas, and other surfaces under their control safe

Under the common carrier standard, proving the airline’s negligence will be much easier for you in a Nevada courtroom than in other personal injury claims.

To win a negligence lawsuit against an airline in Las Vegas for causing harm, you must prove four basic elements: duty, breach, causation, and damages. The common carrier standard effectively strengthens two of these elements:

  • Duty — The legal duty is already established as the highest possible degree of care owed to you as a passenger
  • Breach — The standard for proving a violation of a duty is significantly lowered. It is not necessary to show gross recklessness. You merely have to show that the carrier failed to take steps to guard against your injury caused by its slightest negligence. This is negligence against which human foresight could have guarded.

Whenever your injuries or the wrongful death of a loved one is the fault of an airline, this legal framework is essential for holding the airline accountable for the significant and life-altering damages you will incur.

Potentially Liable Parties

Aviation accidents, particularly catastrophes, are seldom caused by a single mistake. Instead, a complex investigation usually finds a “chain of fault” which shows how various mistakes were linked together to create the disaster. This case could involve multiple fault parties, and consequently, you must pursue compensation from each one that contributed to the chain. Some of the common liable parties include:

Operator and the Flight Crew

The primary focus of any investigation is the airline or operator and the pilot(s). This is because the airline or operator and the pilot(s) had the direct operational control of the aircraft.

As the employer, the airline is responsible for your safety. Your airline may be liable for systemic failures such as negligent hiring, poor training, or creating schedules that encourage pilot fatigue.

On the other hand, the pilot(s) may have made direct errors, like flying drunk or making operational errors in judgment about the weather or procedure. However, the employer is usually vicariously liable for the pilot’s conduct during their employment. This means that a failure on the part of the crew is generally due to a failure in the airline’s supervision, training, or operational culture.

Maintenance Crew and Manufacturers

Moving from operational control to the aircraft’s physical condition, the error chain extends to those in charge of the aircraft’s integrity. If the crash happened due to a mechanical failure (aircraft malfunction), the liability will shift to the maintenance company. This can be for:

  • Performing a faulty repair
  • Failing to follow critical maintenance protocols
  • Overlooking necessary inspections, which would have detected a dangerous condition

If the mechanical fault occurred not due to a lack of maintenance, but due to the design, and it was not a pilot error, the blame is usually shifted to the aircraft manufacturer. The manufacturer will face a product liability claim if the accident was caused by:

  • An overall design defect, which renders their entire product line unsafe
  • A particular manufacturing defect, which is a defect made during the assembly of a product

This will make the manufacturer liable for adding a dangerously defective product to the commerce stream.

Air Traffic Control

In some accident circumstances, the error chain moves past the commercial entities and into the federal government via ATC. Air traffic controllers, who work for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), ensure safe separation of all aircraft and provide timely and accurate instructions. If an air traffic control error caused a crash, you can sue the government for damages. This will typically occur if a collision occurs because of the wrong instructions.

Because this type of claim involves suing the federal government, you should file a claim under the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA), which allows you to sue government agencies. You have to follow FTCA rules to bring this lawsuit. Investigating every link is your legal strategy for holding them all jointly and severally liable to pay you for the full measure of your damages.

How the Montreal Convention Affects International Flights

When you fly from or to an international airport, your ability to get compensation rights after an airplane accident depends on a different set of rules. A multilateral treaty known as the Montreal Convention of 1999 governs international air carriage claims outlined in a passenger’s itinerary with a stop or transfer in another member country. The aforementioned international treaty supplants most national and state law for these claims. The convention unifies the rules applicable to airline liability and establishes a powerful legal framework to protect passengers.

The Montreal Convention's main provision offers a two-tier airline liability system. The injured passenger is well protected in this system. In the first tier, the carrier is strictly liable for damages up to a specified financial limit (128,821 Special Drawing Rights or SDRs, an international currency unit). This means that to recover this initial, fairly substantial compensation, the victim does not have to demonstrate that the airline is at fault. You just have to prove that the accident caused your injury while you were on the plane, boarding the aircraft, or disembarking from the plane. It removes the considerable challenge of proving wrongdoing right after a complicated aviation-related tragedy.

Using strict liability as the foundation, the convention would allow for the recovery of damages exceeding the SDR threshold, allowing full compensation for catastrophic injuries or wrongful death. When the proven damages to the victim exceed the original strict liability amount, the onus of proof flips. An airline will only avoid this unlimited liability by proving that the accident was not due to its own fault or that a third party (like an air traffic controller or another passenger) solely caused the event. This high threshold for exoneration forces the airline to conduct a robust internal investigation and strongly encourages it to complete indemnification.

The last and most important benefit of the Montreal Convention lies in its jurisdiction provisions, which deal with where you may sue a foreign airline. The Convention usually allows a passenger or their family to file a claim in the country of their principal and permanent residence, provided the airline operates there. As a result, in most cases, you can file your suit in the United States if an incident involving a foreign carrier occurs in a third country. This clause allows you to sue in a system you are familiar with. It ensures the foreign airline cannot compel you to take your case overseas to an unfamiliar and less favorable court.

Comprehensive Scope of Recoverable Damages in Aviation Accident Claims

Aviation accidents can cause catastrophic losses. Thus, survivors and family members must recover as much as possible. The verdict of these complex cases is generally classified as damages. Damages can be:

  • Measured, that is, economic loss
  • Immeasurable (intangible)

Thus, compensation is awarded to ensure that the total damages suffered due to the trauma are compensated. You can recover damages for your growing medical bills and lost earnings through this. However, you can also recover from the emotional suffering and loss of companionship of a loved one.

  1. For Catastrophic Injury Survivors (Personal Injury Claim)

As a survivor of an airplane accident, you can claim economic and non-economic damages.

Economic Damages (Quantifiable Losses)

Some of the damages include:

  • Future medical bills — This is money for all future medical expenses you may need for the rest of your life, including complex surgery, complicated rehabilitation, round-the-clock care in the home, medication, and medical equipment that the victim will need to recover or stabilize.
  • Lost wages (past and present) — You could receive compensation for all your lost income, salary, wages, bonus, and other employment benefits, from the date of the accident until the end of the case.
  • Diminished earning capacity — This refers to the permanent or long-term decrease in the ability to earn a living. Damages of this kind involve loss of all projected income in the future, as well as retirement contributions and promotions that the injured person would have earned throughout his/her working life.
  • Rehabilitation and therapy costs — The costs of physical, occupational, and speech therapy and long-term psychosocial counseling to deal with trauma and recover physically.
  • Property damage and out-of-pocket expenses — Costs incurred to replace personal property destroyed in the crash and incidental expenses like specialized transport to medical appointments and required amendments to the home or vehicle (ramp, lift, etc.) to accommodate the injury.

Non-Economic Damages (Intangible Losses)

You can recover damages for the pain and suffering that are directly caused by the catastrophic injuries you sustained. The damages will compensate you for:

  • Pain and suffering — Compensation for the intense physical pain, chronic discomfort, and residual agony endured as a direct result of the catastrophic injuries.
  • Emotional distress and mental anguish — Compensation for this category is channeled to the recovery for psychological injuries and mental trauma, including PTSD, severe anxiety, and depression. Particular attention is paid to the reasonable fear and terror you felt during the event.
  • Loss of enjoyment of life — You can receive compensation for not being able to enjoy life as before. This refers to an individual’s inability to engage in activities, hobbies, recreation, and other daily activities.
  • Scarring and disfigurement — You will be compensated for permanent scarring and disfigurement that interferes with your ability to engage seamlessly in personal and social activities.
  • Loss of consortium (for the spouse) — This compensation acknowledges that the surviving spouse has lost companionship, affection, comfort, society, support, and the intimacy of the marital intimate relationship.

  1. For a Wrongful Death Claim (Filed by Surviving Family)

You can also pursue economic and non-economic damages in a wrongful death claim.

Economic Damages

Some of the damages include:

  • Loss of financial support and contributions — The expected total economic value for the deceased’s projected lifetime earnings, income, and financial contributions to their family and household.
  • Loss of benefits and inheritance — If your marriage ends, you might lose a retirement benefit or inheritance. This would cover the value of losses like pensions, health insurance, and any future inheritance the family would have received.
  • Funeral and burial costs — Recovery of all reasonable expenses incurred for the decedent’s funeral, burial, or cremation.
  • Household services that have been lost and their value — The monetary value of services the deceased provides to the family. For example, taking care of the children, maintaining the home, and doing administrative work.
  • The deceased’s medical expenses before they died — These will be compensated by the at-fault airline or responsible party. The expenses include any hospital or ambulance costs incurred from the time of injury until death.

Non-Economic Damages

Some of the damages include:

  • Compensation for the emotional gap created by the loss of love and companionship — Further acknowledging the irreplaceable emotional bond, affection, and presence of the deceased.
  • The surviving children may be awarded damages for losing a caring parent’s nurture, guidance, instruction, parental training, and moral support during their developmental years and continuing forward.
  • The survivors’ sorrow and mental anguish allow recovery for the extreme anguish, grief, and emotional trauma suffered by the claimant’s immediate family as a result of the premature death of their loved one.
  • The decedent's own pain and suffering (survival action) — This is a claim made to benefit the decedent’s estate for the conscious physical pain, suffering, and suffering experienced by the decedent before death due to the injuries suffered.

The Critical Absence of a Non-Economic Cap in Nevada

Importantly, claimants who file suit under Nevada state law benefit because Nevada law does not place a cap on non-economic damages in these general personal injury and wrongful death cases. What is the other benefit of this? It ensures that the compensation you receive for the pain and suffering caused by the accident, the emotional distress, and the death of your loved one is not arbitrarily limited by a specific amount.

The Important Deadline

The most critical factor in your claim is time. Under Nevada Revised Statutes (NRS) 11.190(4)(e), injured victims in a personal injury or wrongful death incident have just two years to file a lawsuit. It is a non-negotiable legal deadline. In general, if a lawsuit is not filed within these two years, you may be permanently barred from recovering compensation for damages, no matter how severe or strong your case is. If you want a chance to receive compensation, you need to act quickly.

Immediate Actions to Protect Your Legal Rights

Following an aviation accident, you must take decisive and immediate action to protect your legal rights, as the liable parties will begin working to limit their liability immediately.

  • Refrain from speaking to anyone outside your lawyer — Airline's investigators or insurance adjusters will not help you. They only want information that they can use to reduce or deny your claim. Please do not agree to an interview or to have your statement recorded. Once you have retained a lawyer, direct all communication to them.
  • Do not sign any documents or accept early settlement offers — The airline or its insurer may offer a quick, minimal settlement to resolve the matter before you understand the full extent of your long-term injuries or losses. Do not sign a medical release, settlement agreement, or any other document without review and approval of an experienced aviation attorney, because you may forfeit the right to full and fair compensation.
  • Preserve all documentation and evidence — You should gather and secure all evidence about the accident and your losses. This includes your boarding pass, baggage area sticker, and any personal clothing found at the scene. Begin to note down all expenses linked to it carefully. This includes initial doctor’s bills, losses to property, travel costs, etc. Your lawyer will need this evidence to properly investigate the case and demonstrate your overall damages.

Find an Airplane Accidents Attorney Near Me

Catastrophic aviation injuries represent the ultimate violation of safety and trust. When negligence shatters a life, fighting for justice against powerful airlines and insurers becomes an exhausting, complex burden. You do not have to take on this burden while trying to get better. You can work with a personal injury attorney to properly document necessary evidence and protect your rights before the statute of limitations expires.

If you or a loved one is the victim of an air disaster, our Las Vegas attorneys at Dallas Horton & Associates are here for you. Contact us at 702-820-5917 for assistance.