AVIATION LAW BLOG
Congressional report rips Boeing, FAA in dealing with 737 Max
The controversial and currently grounded 737 Max jet received more scrutiny recently after the U.S. Congress issued a scathing report criticizing the aircraft’s maker Boeing as well as the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The report, released on Sept. 16, cited...
Families seek damages from men who downed Malaysia Flight 17
In July 2014, Malaysian Airlines Flight 17 (MH17) was apparently shot down over Eastern Ukraine by a Buk missile. Tragically, 298 lives were lost. The majority of those on board were Dutch, so the criminal case against those allegedly responsible is taking place in...
Human error, mechanical issues behind National Guard helicopter crash
Last December, a Black Hawk helicopter flown by members of the Minnesota National Guard crashed and killed three Guard members. Now, the Guard has released a summary of results from a military investigative board. According to that summary, it was a combination of...
New hurdles in the path of getting the 737 Max back in the air
After two fatal crashes involving Boeing’s 737 Max in March of 2019, the FAA and other aviation regulators pulled the 737 Max from the skies. Over the past year, Boeing has been fighting to get the planes recertified for air travel, but regulators have been reluctant...
FAA orders 2,000 Boeing 737s to be re-inspected after storage
Leaving planes in storage for extended periods may not be doing them any good, but that is what has happened due to the coronavirus pandemic and the corresponding drop in air travel. Unfortunately, according to the Federal Aviation Administration, storing some planes...
Commercial aviation accidents are at an all-time low, but private planes are riskier
Two crashes involving Boeing 737 MAX jets within five months of each other gained broad coverage in the media in 2019, yet the number of fatalities in commercial flights last year fell by more than half from 2018. The 257 fatalities in large commercial airline...
2 small planes collide in Idaho, at least 8 dead
Tragedy occurred in Northern Idaho recently when two small planes collided over a scenic mountain lake. At least eight people, including three children, died in the crash. One plane was a float plane carrying five passengers, including the three children, along with...
Boeing 737 Max receives FAA approval for certification flights
As we’ve discussed before on this blog, the Boeing 737 Max was grounded worldwide in March 2019. Two separate 737 Max crashes, one in Indonesia and the other in Ethiopia, killed a total of 346 people and put Boeing in crisis mode. The probable cause of the crashes was...
Spatial disorientation a likely factor in Kobe Bryant crash
On the fateful morning in January when Kobe Bryant, his daughter, and six other passengers left Orange County by helicopter headed for a girls’ basketball tournament, the weather was foggy. Area police had grounded their own helicopters. There was a weather advisory...
Suit filed over October downing of B-17G bomber in Connecticut
On October 3, 2019, a chartered B-17G bomber carrying 13 people crashed after mechanical trouble during liftoff from Bradley International Airport in Connecticut. The passengers had each paid $450 for the trip. Five passengers, along with the pilot and copilot, were...
