Hire the attorney pilot, Steven Lamar Thompson, to seek compensation for death, bodily injury or causally related emotional distress suffered, and/or damage sustained to personal property (e.g., baggage and cargo) that occurred during a domestic air carrier flight.

Personal injury suffered, and/or damage to personal property that occurred during a “domestic flight” operated by an air carrier may involve the FAA, NTSB, state law, and the FBI if a crime is suspected. A claim for damages may be based on a theory of negligent tort, heightened duty of care owed; intentional tort; and strict product liability. A claim may be made against each inextricably linked at-fault party that contributed to the cause of the in-flight bodily injury and/or damage to personal property. A claim may also include joint liability of the ticketing carrier and operating carrier in code-share operations.

In-flight bodily injury suffered, and/or damage to personal property that occurred during a “domestic flight” may involve multiple at-fault parties that contributed: the airport authority that operates the airport, it’s county government and its employee; the state; a maintenance company; air carrier, airline; TSA; Federal Air Marshall; airline safety inspector; airline flight dispatcher; airplane pilot; flight attendant; air traffic controller; airplane food caterer; airplane cleaner company; airplane mechanic; manufacturer, seller, and repairer of the aircraft or its equipment; airport and airline ground personnel; another passenger; related employee; or even the FAA.

For example, a claim may be made against the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for its failure to ensure that an air carrier’s approved Cockpit Resource Management (CRM) training contained all the required elements of 14 C.F.R. § 135.330, and but for the failure, and accident may not have occurred.

An in-flight bodily injury may be caused by: turbulence; a hard landing or at an unusually high speed; an overhead bin that flew open and dumped luggage on a passenger; a neglected food cart; a slip-and-fall in the airplane aisle or on ice while embarking or disembarking; a burn by hot water spills; food poisoning; a defective seatbelt that came undone during turbulence; a food service cart with a defective wheel that rammed into a passenger; and an assault or battery by another passenger, or airline employee.

In general terms, Title 49 C.F.R. 830, governs domestic air carrier accidents and incidents, and defines an accident as an occurrence associated with the operation of an aircraft that takes place between the time any person boards the aircraft with the intention of flight and all such persons have disembarked, and in which any person suffers death or serious injury, or in which the aircraft receives substantial damage. An incident is an occurrence other than an accident that affects or could affect the safety of operations.

In order to succeed in making a claim for a serious injury, a passenger must prove that the “accident” was an occurrence associated with the operation of an aircraft (e.g., breached its heightened duty of care owed) that took place between the time any person boards the aircraft with the intention of flight and all such persons have disembarked, and the injury: (1) required hospitalization for more than 48 hours, commencing within 7 days from the date of the injury; (2) resulted in a fracture of any bone (except simple fractures of fingers, toes, or nose); (3) caused severe hemorrhages, nerve, muscle, or tendon damage; (4) involved any internal organ; or (5) involved second, or third-degree burns, or any burns affecting more than 5 percent of the body surface.