Whether it's an offshore helicopter, medical helicopter or charter helicopter on tour, every helicopter accident case presents unique and complex legal challenges. Slack & Davis attorneys have extensive experience in a variety of helicopter crash claims.

Helicopters transporting workers to offshore oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico have met with tragedy far too often. Since 2000, more than 40 helicopters have crashed into the Gulf of Mexico, an astounding figure. Lawsuits involving offshore accidents involves a complicated mix of federal admiralty / maritime laws, aviation regulations and state tort laws.

For example, the Jones Act is a federal admiralty law that protects workers who are injured while working on U.S. territorial waters. When an offshore helicopter crashes into the Gulf of Mexico, resulting litigation may fall under jurisdiction of the Jones Act because the flight operation has a significant relationship to traditional maritime activity.

In addition, when offshore helicopter accidents occur beyond 12 nautical miles, the Death on the High Seas Act (DOHSA) would apply. In certain instances, this act can limit the non-economic damages, such as "care, comfort and companionship," that plaintiffs might be entitled to receive under other statuatory or common-law schemes.

In complex and sometimes confusing situations such as these, Slack & Davis attorneys offer clients the legal savvy, technical knowledge and financial resources to pursue cases against formidable adversaries. As always, our mission is to aggressively seek advantageous resolutions for our clients.

For more about the Jones Act and DOHSA, click here.

Air ambulances / Medical helicopters

Air ambulances, including medical helicopters and medical transport planes, are supposed to save lives, not take them. In the event of an emergency helicopter crash, patients being transported for emergency care may suffer more severe injuries or even death. In addition, the heroic paramedics, flight nurses and pilots who are trying to save lives may lose their lives or be severely injured.

Some factors contrubuting to medical helicopter accidents are flying in poor weather or at night. In most helicopter medical transport operations, the pilot decides whether to fly, often times under pressure from responders on the ground, such as police or ground paramedics.

Even in the best flying conditions, medical helicopters have crashed due to poor aircraft maintenance, poor oversight by sponsoring hospitals of helicopter operators, and inadequate helicopter pilot training.

In addition, medical helicopters are sometimes used in situations that don't warrant their use, such as when a patient has non-life-threatening injuries. In such cases, ground ambulance transport could be the safer option. For example, in a crash in South Carolina several years ago, four people died when a medical helicopter crashed after picking up a homeless woman with a broken leg. Three other medical helicopter services had declined to fly that mission due to fog.

Due to our firm's independent investigations in medical helicopter crash cases, lead aviation attorney Michael L. Slack authored and presented a paper at the 2001 Southern Methodist University Air Law Symposium about his concern for the safety of air ambulance operations. You may download this paper now.

Slack & Davis aviation attorneys have extensive experience litigating air ambulance cases. Our attorneys have handled cases against air ambulance operators such as Air Evac EMS, Valley Air Care and IHC Life Flight. In one recent air ambulance case, the jury awarded $3.2 million in damages at trial for the death of an unmarried adult passenger in an air ambulance training flight. The retrial of this case resulted in a similar verdict. Future results depend on the facts of each case.

View our aviation cases to find out the many types of helicopters in which our attorneys have aviation and legal expertise.

Charter helicopters / Tour helicopters

Charter helicopters often transport busy executives, travelers, high-profile athletes, musicians, government officials and celebrities on tour. In charter helicopter operations, pilots might feel tremendous pressures to maintain schedules and fulfill flight commitments, even when unsafe conditions suddenly appear.

Storms, high winds, fog and heat in high altitudes are some of the elements that put helicopters at risk. To that, add the pressure to get everybody where they want to go on time, and you've got a recipe for disaster.

In helicopter crashes involving the death of highly-paid individuals, appropriate consideration must be given to the decedent's future earnings capacity, sometimes resulting in multimillion dollar recoveries for surviving family members. Future results depend on the facts of each case.

View our celebrity cases for selected charter helicopter crashes that Slack & Davis attorneys have successfully resolved for families of prominent individuals.