The crash of a commercial airliner like Comair Flight 5191 is one of the world's most complex tragedies. Establishing the cause of air crashes is a time-intensive, technical process that involves the National Transportation Safety Board, Federal Aviation Administration and independent investigators working on behalf of victims, their families, commercial carriers and aircraft manufacturers.

After an Airline Accident

Slack & Davis has extensive experience as lead counsel for the families and victims of airline accidents. Our firm does not refer aviation cases to other attorneys. This enables clients to be confident their case will be handled by the same experts who take their call.

After a plane crashes, the airline's insurance company will probably contact survivors or victims' families. The insurer may offer a settlement and may also offer a cash advance to defray immediate costs resulting from the accident.

Survivors or victims' families should not accept any offers or sign any documents before speaking to an attorney who is knowledgeable in aviation cases. Accepting a settlement from the insurer will require individuals to waive their rights to further actions against the insurer or other parties involved in the accident.

Protections under the Law

In 1996, after the TWA crash which killed 230 people off Long Island, Congress passed the Aviation Disaster Family Assistance Act. This law requires that the families of airline accident victims be treated with care and respect. Following are the key points:

• Family members should be given time to notify other relatives before passengers' names are made public.
• Airlines must offer crisis counseling.
• Airlines must make hotel rooms and food available.
• Airlines must help family members retrieve dental records and X-rays to identify the victims.
• Airlines must provide transportation to and from the crash site.
• Airlines should consult family members about a memorial.

When lawsuits are filed against the airline or other major corporation, plaintiffs' attorneys must battle strong and well-funded defense teams. That's when the aviation legal expertise provided by Slack & Davis attorneys can be a welcome relief to families of those killed in air crashes, as well as passengers who were lucky enough to survive.

Under the federal Aviation Disaster Family Assistance Act, "... no unsolicited communication concerning a potential action for personal injury or wrongful death may be made by an attorney ... to an individual injured in the accident, or to a relative of an individual involved in the accident, before the 45th day following the date of the accident."

This prohibition covers attorneys (including any associate, agent, employee, or other representative of an attorney) or any potential party to the litigation.

Our firm stands ready to assist you in your time of need, however, we respect the need of victims' families for privacy. We will never contact you without your permission or legal representative's authorization.

Commercial Airline Accident Cases

Slack & Davis attorneys have helped obtain multimillion-dollar awards for clients in selected cases shown below. For a more complete list, please view our Aviation Cases.

• Air France Flight 4590 (Concorde), Paris
• American Airlines Flight 1420, Little Rock, Arkansas
• American Airlines Flight 587; more than 30 claims in litigation; near Queens, New York
• American Connection Flight 5966, Kirksville, Mo.; our firm represented one survivor
• American Eagle Flight 4184, Indiana (after circling Chicago O'Hare)
• Delta Flight 191, DFW International Airport
• Egypt Air Flight 990, Nantucket Island
• Lufthansa Flight 440, Houston, Texas
• Scenic Airlines Flight 306, near the Grand Canyon, Arizona
• TWA Flight 800, Long Island, New York
• Universal Airways Flight 76, Gulfport, Mississippi
• US Airways Express Flight 5481, Charlotte, North Carolina
• Valujet Flight 592, killing musician Walter Hyatt; Florida Everglades

Future results depend on the facts of each case.

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