Paradise Lost
Viewing places like the Grand Canyon, or Yosemite National Park or Hawaii from the vantage point of a helicopter or small charter plane can be an awe-inspiring experience. Too often, however, it may also be deadly.
O'Reilly Collins represents people in California and throughout the United States who have been harmed as the result of tourism-related aviation accidents. In short, our lawyers have more than 35 years of actual aviation accident litigation experience and the resources to have a real impact on the ultimate result.
Hawaiian Aviation Accidents
Hawaii is a very challenging environment for flying. Much of the chain and most of the spectacular scenery can only be reached by air. Because this requires flying around mountains and live volcanoes, which are subject to powerful trade winds, the accident rate for Hawaiian tourist flights is very high. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has submitted rules to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to restrict and control flights but the FAA makes only a feeble effort to enforce them.
Tragedy is inevitable.
The Big Island Air disaster in 1999 is a good example. Big Island conducted on-demand flights around the largest island, Hawaii. On the day of the accident, the pilot had one flight very early in the morning and then a late scheduled flight at the end of the day. To put it mildly, the pilot was exhausted when the flight took off. Planned for an hour, it was supposed to circle the two main peaks on the island. However, he decided to cut short the second peak, Mauna Loa and to return to base at the Kona airport. FAA rules require that flights across the island only occur by crossing the saddle between the peaks at its lowest point.
To make things easier, since instrument flight is not allowed, the rule requires that aircraft follow the main road across the saddle. However, this pilot turned and took the quickest route, even though the saddle was covered with cloud, common on this island.
He gambled that there was clearance under the clouds. He was wrong. All eleven aboard died.
Even when the pilot has no control, any mechanical failure is even more dangerous in Hawaii. Helicopters fly at low altitudes for a better view and safe landing sites are rare. We were recently retained by the widow of a pilot whose flight took him across the active lava fields on the south of the island. Although he was at a safe altitude, when his engine failed, he had nowhere to go but the lava fields. That case was settled with the engine manufacturer for $4,500,000.
A similar accident with less serious consequences occurred to a tourist helicopter flight on Maui. Engine failure at 400 feet led to a hard landing and a back injury that prevented the pilot, a former Indian fighter pilot, from flying again.
Depositions of the engineers at the engine repair facility determined that exhausted maintenance workers had failed to put back all the parts they took off the engine and the inspection sheets were signed off without any inspection. That case settled for $6,000,000.
Less fortunate was the pilot whose engine quit at the airport on Kauai but too low for a safe landing. All aboard died. That case was settled for the pilot's widow for $9,500,000.
Attorneys at O'Reilly Collins have tried or settled 17 tourist aircraft accidents in the Hawaiian Islands. To learn more, contact us online or call our law offices in the San Francisco area from anywhere in California or the United States, toll-free, at 888-696-5371.
