Airplane accidents can occur on commercial flights, airplane tours, chartered flights, or on personal airplanes. In all cases, aviation accidents carry the risk of serious personal injuries, including spinal cord injuries, brain injuries, burn injuries, broken bones, and even fatalities. In many cases, investigating an airplane accident takes a lot of time and many resources. Unfortunately, while an investigation is ongoing, the families of victims often have to wait for answers.

Although airplane accidents involving commercial liners are extremely rare, they can occur. When these sorts of accidents occur, they are often widely covered by the media, and as a result some people fear flying. Aviation accidents, however, are more likely to occur with small private aircraft. In fact, such accidents involving small aircraft often are unreported, and therefore some people have the mistaken belief that smaller airplanes are safer.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reports that travel by air will double in the next two decades. This may mean that more aviation accidents will occur, simply as more planes are in the sky. Preventing such accidents is obviously a big priority for federal officials and for insurance companies.

Today, after an aviation accident the first order of business is to determine the cause of the particular accident. Insurance companies, victim’s families, and the attorneys involved want to find who is legally responsible or liable for the cause of the accident. The operator or pilot of the aircraft may be liable, but the owner, airplane manufacturer, maintenance service, and other professionals may also be held liable. In some aviation accidents, the federal government or a particular owner of the property where the plane has crashed are also held liable for an accident. Usually, it requires extensive research and professional investigation to determine the true cause of an accident.

In some cases, the manufacturer of the aircraft is held liable because a part of the air craft is deemed to be unsafe. In some cases, maintenance services are held liable if the airplane has not been adequately maintained or kept in good condition. Pilot error or negligence is a common cause of aviation accidents as well. If the pilot has been reckless, the state as well as the federal government may pursue criminal proceedings against the pilot, above and beyond any civil proceedings that results from the accident.

If you have been in an aviation accident and have suffered an injury, you need to contact a qualified Florida personal injury attorney, since aviation accident cases can be quite complex and often require access to professional investigators, expert witnesses, and other professionals. A Florida attorney can help you understand what your options are and can help ensure that you do not have to pay all medical costs and lost wages out of pocket.