Spokane Aviation Accident Lawyers

Spokane Aviation Accident Lawyers

While it’s true aviation accidents are far less common than car accidents, when they do happen, statistics show that typically almost everyone survives or almost everyone perishes. Those who’ve lost loved ones or been injured themselves in aviation accidents often don’t where to turn to find out about a claim.

If you are reading this, it’s likely you’ve lost someone to an aviation accident or been injured in one yourself. You are likely in physical and/or emotional pain. You may be worried about taking care of expenses due to the loss of your own or a loved one’s income. And you’re probably searching for someone you can trust to help you with an aviation accident claim.

We are here to help. We offer free legal advice. Call our Spokane aviation accident lawyers today.

Don’t let fear hold you back from getting the answers you need. You don’t have to worry about having money up-front to speak to an attorney, just call us to schedule a free legal consultation.

Why Do Aviation Accidents Happen?

Despite the increase in aviation passengers in recent decades, the number of aviation accidents has been going down, with the majority of accidents due to pilot error, not terrorism. These accidents most often happen during mistakes while landing, but also occur due to errors in flight planning, fueling, take-off, and general handling of the plane.

Another cause of aviation accidents is equipment malfunction. This may be due to poor maintenance practices, insufficient training, or defective equipment. Determining fault is necessary to make sure you seek compensation from the right party to maximize your chances of winning your claim. It’s also necessary to identify all parties liable for the damages you’ve suffered.

A third cause of aviation accidents is bad weather. Many people consider bad weather an “Act of God,” and therefore assume they are not eligible to file a claim. While this may be the case, it isn’t always, so it’s important to find out.

If the airline or pilot moved forward with a flight without awareness of — or despite impending bad weather, that pilot may be negligent for the resulting accident. If you’ve lost a loved one or been injured yourself in an aviation accident, please contact our Spokane aviation accident lawyers to find out how we can help you pursue compensation.

How Can an Aviation Accident Lawyer Help Me?

Some people mistakenly believe they’ll save money by taking on their claim without a lawyer, but the truth is the opposite. Statistics show that people who try to move their claim forward without the help of an attorney almost always receive many times less in compensation than those with experienced lawyers.

Among the ways an attorney can help you with an aviation accident claim are:

• Conducting an accident investigation
• Accurately assessing your damages
• Protecting your claim’s value
• Moving your claim along as efficiently as is possible
• Allowing you to Rest and Recover

Investigation:

Our Spokane aviation accident lawyers have extensive experience determining if and how duty of care was breeched and identifying all responsible parties for your claim. During the investigation, they can be of great assistance in identifying all responsible parties.

Accidents are sometimes caused by more than one factor, so it’s possible for more than one party to be liable, such as the pilot, a manufacturer, and even an airline. Determining the responsible party or parties is the first step in moving forward successfully with a claim.

Assessment of Damages:

An accurate assessment of your damages is crucial to make sure you don’t “leave money on the table” when requesting compensation for all that you’ve suffered and loss due to an aviation accident. Our Spokane aviation accident lawyers know how to properly determine your economic and non-economic damages to help you receive full and fair compensation.

Protecting the Value of Your Claim:

There are many ways our Spokane aviation accident lawyers can help protect the value of your claim.

When our lawyers communicate with the insurance company on your behalf, we make sure you don’t lose money by accidentally saying something that can be used to lower your claim.

Insurance companies routinely request a recorded statement from people who file claims. They do this to try and get information they can use to help them lower the amount of money they have to pay you in compensation for your damages.

It may seem unlikely the insurance company could find anything in what you’ve said about an aviation accident to use against you, but imagine you’ve said something they interpret to mean you’ve disregarded your doctor’s orders for recovery. Even if that’s not true, if they can use your recording to deflect blame, any trouble you have recovering may land on you instead of on the severity of your injuries. And if it’s not their fault, they don’t have to pay.

Your Spokane aviation accident lawyers know all of the ways insurance companies try to save money by lowering and dropping claims. Hiring an experienced personal injury trial lawyer is your best way to protect your claim from being devalued.

Efficiency:

Our Spokane aviation accident lawyers are well-versed in the most efficient ways to go about accident investigation, determining your damages, negotiating your claim for settlement, and if necessary, litigating on your behalf to win a trial. The more efficiently they are in making your claim, the quicker you will be compensated and the faster you can get your life back on track.

Going at it alone is the least efficient way to manage your claim. One important reason for this is that the insurance company is not intimidated by people without lawyers, because they aren’t likely to succeed in suing them if an adequate settlement isn’t offered. Instead, the insurance company is likely to put you off with delays and denials, hoping you’ll give up and go away.

Conversely, if you show up with an aviation accident trial lawyer with an excellent record, they’ll know they could be sued if they don’t offer fair compensation. Having an attorney at your side is the most efficient way to make your claim.

Rest and Recovery:

When you turn over your aviation accident claim to an attorney, you are giving yourself the gift of rest and recovery.

The worst possible time to try and figure out how to successfully handle an insurance claim is when you’ve lost a loved one or suffered a serious injury yourself. When you’re in pain and anxious about your financial survival, you’re not going to be at your most capable of negotiating an insurance claim. And taking on your claim when you need rest and recovery is definitely not going to benefit your health. Allowing your Spokane aviation accident lawyer take on the stress and hassle of your claim is a gift you can give yourself that will allow you to focus on healing while at the same time giving you the best chance at full and fair compensation.

In sum, hiring an attorney will be of great assistance in identifying the cause of the accident and whether negligence was involved. If preventable mistakes caused an aviation accident, this constitutes negligence. If you’ve suffered the death of a loved one or been injured yourself due to negligence, you owe it to yourself to find out if you are owed compensation for your damages.

Once negligence is involved, your Spokane aviation accident lawyer can help you by building and arguing a strong case for compensation, whether through a settlement or in court.

Spokane Aviation Client Story

We are sharing the client story below to give you a better idea of what to expect in an aviation accident claim. We’ve edited the names and details to protect the privacy of our clients, but the story is helpful, nonetheless. Please read it through and contact us as soon as you can to learn how we can help with your specific aviation accident claim.

On a breezy evening in late July not so long ago, Elise Evans and her brother Jeremy did what they did best while they waited for their father: bicker.

The seaplane tour was something Jeremy had always wanted to do, and though just the idea of going up in a tiny plane made Elise’s stomach do flips, she’d planned the surprise with her dad as part of their “big summer family vacation.” The trip was part birthday present for Jeremy and part sending-off present for Elise. But they all knew deep-down what it really was — one last chance to spend time together before everything changed when Else went off to college in five weeks. She was excited, but also scared and sad.

She wondered how somebody could be all those things at the same time. She felt as though she were standing between two places she wanted to be, and the ground was crumbling beneath her. Soon she’d have to make a big leap, whether she wanted to or not.

“Here we go, ‘Air Travel Tips for the Faint-of-Heart,” Jeremy said, holding up his magazine.

Elise gave her brother the mother of all eyerolls, plucking the magazine from his fingers. Letting him get under her skin made her feel two years younger than her brother instead of two years older, but he was so good at it. Some things take time.

Jack Evans thanked the pilot’s wife as she handed him a receipt. He came out onto the deck just as Jeremy coughed into his hand, “Baby!”

“What was that?” Elise snapped.

“Nothing,” Jeremy smiled as evening light glinted off his braces, “I had something stuck in my throat.”

“You’re about to have something stuck in your throat,” Elise threatened, rolling up the magazine and stepping toward him.

“Kids! Knock it off,” said their dad. “This is probably going to be —”

“Our last vacation together as a family…” Elise and Jeremy said with him as now they both rolled their eyes.

Whether they wanted to admit it or not, the three of them had been like The Three Musketeers since Elise and Jeremy’s mom died back when she was eleven and Jeremy was nine. They all knew it and were dreading the changes end of summer would bring.

Elise swallowed the sudden lump in her own throat and handed back the magazine, careful not to meet her brother’s eyes. He took it, good-enough to look away in his own embarrassment as he blinked back thoughts of their mom. They’d always had each other’s back like that.

They were rescued from their memories as a buzzing began behind them and grew louder. They turned in unison to see the seaplane drop gracefully as it kissed the water before making a wide arc toward the shore and pulling up to the dock.

As the prop slowed to a stop, the pilot hopped onto the floating dock and waved. Elise’s stomach waved back, and she unconsciously rubbed it with her hand, wiling it to settle down as they joined him on the dock. She would not be sick in this tiny plane in front of her brother and her dad; she would not.

They gathered around the pilot as he gave them his spiel about how things would go as Elise willed herself to ignore the incessant rocking of the dock’s boards beneath her feet. He was annoyingly brief and too soon it was time to board. The pilot held the door open as Jack climbed in beside the pilot, then Elise and Jeremy in back.

As she passed within inches of to the pilot to climb in, she could have sworn she smelled alcohol, but her brain resisted the possibility and all its ramifications. Had she smelled alcohol? How could she be sure? She admitted to herself she was anxiety-stricken and nauseous, and they hadn’t even left the ground yet.

She plunked down behind the pilot’s seat, burying her worry under a pile of self-doubt. How do you even question something like that half-a-minute before taking off into the wilderness in a four-person plane — with the pilot right there?

She ran through it in once in her head: Dad, I think the pilot might be drunk. It sounded ridiculous, even on the inside of her head. Before she knew it, the pilot climbed in after them and shut the door.

With the door closed, the closeness of the cabin felt like a hand over her mouth. Elise squeezed her eyes shut and forced herself to swallow. And then she smelled it. Though faint, it was the sharp, cloying, unmistakable smell left behind after someone had thrown up. The smell you can never seem to completely wash away. Somebody had been sick on this plane. In her mind it was absolute proof she would be, too.

“By the way, should you feel airsick, you’ll find bags in the pockets on the back of the front seats,” said the pilot, turning to his gauges.

Airsick, she thought. He’d called it out as nonchalantly as if he were telling them what he’d had for breakfast.

Breakfast…

Elise’s mouth went dry as her salivary glands clenched. She estimated she had maybe seven seconds before she lost it.

She lurched out of her seat, clambering over her brother. She was frantically yanking at the door handle when the pilot jumped up and let her out. She fell to her knees at the edge of the dock just in time to give up her own breakfast.

Elise’s Dad climbed out and knelt with her, rubbing her back and saying soft words until her stomach calmed. He offered to cancel the flight, but she urged him to go with Jeremy. She promised she’d be fine on the shore for the next forty-five minutes. She had a book in her backpack and wanted nothing more than to stay on solid ground.

The last thing she said, was “I don’t want you to miss the flight because of me”. They were words she’d always remember, and always regret.

Her dad left with a parting hug, and she gratefully dropped into the warm grass to watch them take off. The prop started up with its now familiar buzzing and Jeremy waved out the window. She waved back and they taxied away.

Elise read for the next hour, engrossed in her book until the fading light made her check the time. They should have come back fifteen minutes ago. The dread clawed at her stomach again, but Elise quickly dismissed it. Now she was being a baby. They were fine. She was sure they were fine because she was being ridiculous and because the alternative was unthinkable.

She checked her phone’s battery. Almost dead. She was going burn it out reading by the flashlight. Better to wait in the lobby in one of those big Adirondack chairs. She was sure the pilot’s wife wouldn’t mind some company while she closed things up for the night. 

Elise was crossing the lawn, fishing in her backpack for her phone charger when a park ranger skidded his Suburban to a stop beside office. Her fingers closed around the charger as the ranger vaulted from the driver’s seat and ran inside.

Elise stepped onto the covered porch after him pulled the screen door open. As she stepped inside, the pilot’s wife screamed. The ranger turned to Elise as he took off his hat and she fell to her knees for the second time that day.

We met Elise Evans four days after she buried her father and her brother under a tree on a grassy slope beside her mother. Her Aunt Renée sat beside her now and held her hand.

How much does it cost to hire a lawyer?

Elise held herself carefully upright, as though in a stiff wind she might shatter.

“Thank you for seeing me, Ms. Paukert,” she began quietly. “Before we begin, I need to get the issue of expenses out of the way. We haven’t yet dealt with the estate…”

“That’s all right, Ms. Evans,” said Attorney Kathleen H. Paukert gently. “The firm works on a contingency fee model. We cover all claim expenses from start to finish. Investigation, research, administration. We also cover litigation, should your claim need to go before a jury to bring you the compensation you deserve. Our firm only receives compensation only when we resolve your claim successfully.”

Elise nodded and paused before asking her next question.

What can I expect in my aviation accident claim?

 “My aunt tells me you helped my uncle Leo after his car accident. Please explain to me how this works when… when the people don’t…”

Renée put her arm around Elise. “When an aviation accident involves wrongful death,” Renée finished.  

“Of course,” said Attorney Paukert. “The first thing we’ll do is conduct a thorough accident investigation to identify all liable parties, such as pilot, equipment, maintenance crew, airline — which in this case is the same as the small seaplane tour company. We gather as much evidence and witness testimony as possible and establish liability.

“The aviation part of the claim can be complicated, and we may bring in expert witnesses to support your case as necessary. Be assured though that our firm has a successful history of handling aviation accident claims, including those involving wrongful death. We are more than up to the task.

“After the investigation, we get to work identifying all the parties who had the responsibility to provide reasonable measures to ensure your safety during the plane tour. Then, we need to connect their failure to keep you safe — called a “breach of duty” to the harm that was caused,” said Attorney Paukert.

“And the issue of whether the pilot was sober will be included in your investigation and establishment of ‘breach of duty’?” Elise asked, anger burning in her eyes.

“Yes, I assure you the toxicology report is something we will address in building your claim,” said Paukert.

“Once we successfully make your claim, we will demand compensation from the at-fault party or parties for all your economic and non-economic damages. This means all the ways you were, are, and will be negatively affected by the loss of your loved ones. That means economic damages like loss of financial support from your father, funeral and burial expenses, and non-economic damages, such as loss of companionship, pain and suffering, things like that,” Paukert said.

“This can be a complicated process, so whether or not you retain our firm, I urge you to hire personal injury trial attorney with a winning record in both aviation accident and wrongful death claims,” Paukert said.

How long will my aviation accident claim take?

Elise nodded and wiped her eyes. “How long do these claims take?” She asked.

“I can’t give you a specific answer right now,” said Paukert. “Every claim is different. The first determining factor will be how long it takes to complete our investigation and establish liability. Then we’ll make a complete assessment of your damages and send a demand letter to the insurance company or companies involved. After that, it will depend on the response we get. If the insurance company is willing to offer a full and fair settlement, we can wrap up your claim. But if they refuse our demand for compensation, we take it in front of a jury.

“The insurance companies around here are familiar with our reputation,” Attorney Paukert added. “They may settle to prevent a jury from deciding what your compensation should be. But there are no guarantees; even if they offer a settlement, they may refuse to offer you what you truly deserve. In such a case, having an experienced attorney is crucial, because the only way to win is to sue.

“And if that’s what it comes to, Elise, we’re more than willing to go there. That’s why again, whomever you choose, I urge you to hire a personal injury trial lawyer with experience in aviation accidents,” Paukert urged.

In that moment, Elise knew she was speaking to the attorney she needed and retained Paukert and Troppmann. Attorney Paukert won the case in court and the jury awarded Elise a very sizable amount. 

Call Our Spokane Aviation Lawyers Today

We hope providing this information has helped you get a better idea of what to expect in an aviation accident claim. Since every claim is unique, please give our Spokane aviation accident lawyers a call as soon as you can. We’d love to discuss how we can help make your specific claim successful.