A DeHavilland DHC-3T plane registered to Anchorage-based General Communication Corp. crashed in an isolated region of southwest Alaska on August 9, reportedly killing former Alaska Senator Ted Stevens and four other people. The LA Times reports that nine people were on board the plane, including former NASA Administrator Sean O’Keefe.
The National Guard was called to the area of the crash site after a passing aircraft saw the fallen plane. Rescue and search efforts were postponed until the following day, however, due to severe weather. Five individuals assisted the crash victims early on August 10 and, amidst rain and fog, a private medical team was dropped near the accident site by commercial helicopter to assist the four plane crash survivors.
National Transportation Safety Board investigators are being sent to the plane crash site. As investigators gather evidence and determine the course of events leading up to this fatal aviation accident, they may examine weather conditions, pilot error, and defective or malfunctioning plane parts, as potential causes.
Although the Federal Aviation Administration has noted a decrease in fatal plane crashes in inclement weather conditions by about 40 percent over the last three years, pilots, crew members, passengers, and those on the ground, are still at risk when weather suddenly changes and pilots lose control of an aircraft.
The plane crash attorneys at Panish Shea & Boyle LLP have the legal knowledge and resources to successfully handle the many complexities surrounding an aviation disaster. Our lawyers are dedicated to helping plane crash injury victims as well as family members of plane crash wrongful death victims obtain the compensation they deserve. For more information about how we can help, please call 877-800-1700.
Canadian company Dimplex North America, in conjunction with the U.S. Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC), announced on March 17, 2010 that it would recall approximately 700,000 remote control kits for electric fireplaces and stoves. The plug-in wall units have been found to overheat, causing mechanism malfunction and a significant burn injury and fire hazard. There have been “19 reports of damage beyond the remote control and one report of a house fire in Columbus, Ohio that resulted in considerable property damage.” The CPSC is still collecting incident and injury reports related to the units.
Dimplex is an Ontario, Canada based company; however, the units were manufactured in China and sold in the United States through home improvement retailers like Lowe’s, as well as specialty fireplace and furniture retailers.
According to the U.S. Fire Administration, home heating devices like fireplaces and space heaters are the second leading cause of fire deaths and the third leading cause of injury in Americans aged 65 and older. Heating equipment is one of the most common causes of residential structural fires, second only to cooking fires. Many of these fires and injuries are related to product defects.
Defective home heating devices can cause serious injury to consumers, including permanent disfigurement from burns. Equipment-related fires can cause massive property damage and significant financial loss to property owners. If you have been injured or experienced property damage as a result of a malfunctioning home heating device, the Los Angeles product defect attorneys at Panish Shea & Boyle LLP can assist you in recovering your losses. Call (877) 800-1700 for a free consultation with a product liability attorney.
Driver inattention and following too closely may have caused a Missouri school bus crash on August 5 that killed one student, a pickup truck driver, and injured 55 people – two seriously – most of whom were students. According to www.stltoday.com, the Missouri Highway Patrol investigation of the multi-vehicle accident near Gray Summit is likely to take several weeks and the National Highway Safety Board’s examination of the crash may take over a year.
Two school buses transporting high school band members to Six Flags were involved in the accident along with a pickup truck and a truck tractor operating without a trailer. The truck tractor apparently had stopped in traffic due to an upcoming construction zone. The pickup truck then rear-ended the tractor. The first school bus struck the rear end of the pickup truck, pushing it on top of the tractor. The second school bus, which crashed into the first bus, pushing it on top of the other two vehicles, was said to have been following the first bus too closely.
The Highway Patrol report noted the driver of the school bus that struck the pickup truck to be “inattentive.” Pending investigations may reveal additional or other causes.
While school bus accidents account for very few traffic accident fatalities and injuries, when they do occur, passengers are at risk of enduring serious injury or death to a lack of safety restraints and air bags. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration records reveal that an average of 19 school-age children die each year in accidents involving school buses or vehicles transporting children for school-related events.
Bus accident victims who are injured due to negligent driving, improper driver training, defective bus parts, or other forms of negligence, deserve to be compensated for the expenses associated with their injuries as well as for their pain and suffering.
The bus crash attorneys at Panish Shea & Boyle LLP understand the complexities surrounding bus accident litigation and have obtained numerous multi-million dollar verdicts and settlements for bus accident victims and family members of wrongful death victims. To find out more about how we can help you obtain full and just compensation, please call 877-800-1700.
As the jury considered damages, Ford decided to settle a long-standing lawsuit with a couple who sued the car maker following a Christmas 2005 wreck that left the woman paralyzed. Ford has agreed to pay the couple $16 million in damages for injuries that the plaintiffs argued were caused by vehicle design defects in the 2002 Explorer.
The female victim, then 58-years-old, was seated in the backseat between her grandchildren when another car lost control coming around a curve and slammed head on into the Explorer. The victim, wearing a lap belt, was slammed forward and down as the rear seat latch failed. This sudden movement catastrophically injured her spinal cord and left her paralyzed from the waist down. The other four passengers in the car did not have significant injuries.
In 2007, the plaintiffs filed a negligence suit against Ford and presented evidence that the manufacturer had known about the dangers of lap-only belts. The plaintiffs presented documents from Ford and crash test memos that indicated the company had known about the inadequacy and danger of the lap belts but had failed to make the necessary changes in order to save money.
Unfortunately, there are many more cases like this one in which car manufacturers continue to make and sell cars even when they know the vehicles are unsafe. The Los Angeles auto product liability attorneys at Panish, Shea & Boyle are leaders in the field of automotive defect law and understand the serious consequences of defective auto parts. If you or a loved one has been injured or killed because of a defective car part, please contact Panish, Shea & Boyle to find out how we can help. We have a successful record in automobile defect cases, including a record $4.9 billion verdict against General Motors. For a free consultation, call 877-800-1700.
A small plane crash in San Diego has killed a mother of three and her 8-year-old son. The Associated Press reports that the woman’s husband and two young daughters were critically injured and remain hospitalized.
The California plane crash involving the family’s home-built, single-engine Velocity Super XLRG5 took place on August 2 before 1 p.m. Moments before crashing, the pilot of the homemade plane reported that he was headed to Kearny Mesa airport to make an emergency landing due to the door being open.
National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) air safety investigators are evaluating whether the open door caused the plane to crash onto the Admiral Baker Golf Course in San Diego. Investigators will also try to determine whether the door’s hinges and latch mechanisms were working properly; whether the loss of the door in flight may have affected its aerodynamics; whether the door may have struck the rear engine and propeller of the plane; and whether the homemade plane was carrying too much weight.
The co-owner of Velocity Inc., the Sebastian, Florida manufacturer of the plane kit stated that if the plane’s door opened in fight, air flow could have caused the door to be torn from its hinges. Thousands of these plane kits have been sold for at least $50,000 throughout the United States. The plane model involved in this crash included a back bench seat that could fit three small children.
Plane manufacturers, including the makers and designers of homemade planes, are responsible for creating safe and reliable aircrafts that are free of defects that could cause injury, accidents, or death. The California plane accident attorneys at Panish Shea & Boyle LLP are nationally recognized for their achievements in consumer protection and aviation litigation. Our lawyers have assisted injury victims and family members of wrongful death victims in a wide range of aviation disasters, many of which were caused by defective plane components. To learn more about how we can help, please call 877-800-1700.
If you have been unfortunate enough to be seriously injured, you have probably had to rely on emergency medical personnel to transport you to hospital emergency rooms. These brave professionals have made it their vocation to care for the seriously injured and classifying many of them as heroes is not out of line. But what about when these professionals make mistakes, or even worse, are negligent in their duties?
According to the Chicago Tribune, a National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigation has concluded that the fatal 2008 medical helicopter crash that took place in Aurora, Illinois was the result of pilot error. Reportedly, the pilot of the Air Angels medical helicopter, which struck a radio tower before crashing and taking the life of a 14-month old girl being transported, has been deemed responsible for the accident due to his “inadequate preflight planning.”
It was determined that multiple factors played a role in the transport’s crash. Aside from the lack of flight planning, which would have identified the 734-foot-tall tower as a potential hazard, the NTSB also cited the pilot for flying too low, which made avoiding the tower impossible. It was also determined that the helicopter was not equipped with a proper on-board warning system, which could have alerted the pilot of the radio tower. Furthermore, the NTSB’s final report also declared that the air traffic controller at DuPage Airport failed to issue a safety warning to the 69-year-old helicopter pilot. Such warnings are mandated by the Federal Aviation Administration.
In total, four people lost their lives in the incident – the pilot, the child being transported to Children’s Memorial Hospital in Chicago, a 31-year-old nurse, and a 41-year-old paramedic. For the families of these and all other helicopter crash victims, negligent parties that contributed in causing the crash can be held liable for their actions in a court of law. For more information about your rights as a helicopter crash victim, please don’t hesitate to contact the experienced Los Angeles helicopter crash attorneys at Panish Shea & Boyle LLP. For a free case consultation, please call us today at 1-877-800-1700.
The Orange County Register reports that two complaints have been filed in federal court in Santa Ana, California against Toyota, alleging that the automaker overlooked serious defects that caused sudden, uncontrolled acceleration of its vehicles. Plaintiffs’ attorneys involved in the lawsuits allege that Toyota was aware since 2004 of the fact that its automobiles with electronic throttle control systems had a significantly higher rate of complaints for sudden acceleration than its vehicles with mechanical controls. Moreover, the suits claim that Toyota neglected to install a brake override system that would allow drivers to stop safely if such unexpected acceleration took place.
One of the lawsuits seeks class-action status for millions of Toyota owners for economic loss resulting from potential drops in their vehicles’ values due to the recalls. The other is a personal injury lawsuit filed on behalf of a woman who claims that she was injured due to the sudden acceleration of her Prius in April. About 300 lawsuits claiming economic loss are part of the consolidated federal case pending in Santa Ana. A few dozen other cases against Toyota pending before the court are for personal injury or wrongful death claims relating to accidents involving Toyota vehicles. Additional lawsuits making similar claims have been filed against Toyota in state courts throughout the country.
The complaints also claim that government regulators failed to fully investigate driver complaints regarding Toyota sudden acceleration and that Toyota executives tried to limit the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s probes into potential problems with vehicles’ electronic throttle controls. Instead of addressing the likelihood that a defective electronic throttle control system may have been causing incidents of sudden acceleration, Toyota claimed that floor mats and sticky accelerator pedals were to blame. One memo even suggests that Toyota was aware as early as 2007 that other auto makers were utilizing safety features to prevent sudden acceleration, yet it did not implement similar tactics.
The California auto product liability lawyers at Panish Shea & Boyle LLP are currently involved in litigation against Toyota, and one of the firm’s attorneys serves on the Plaintiffs’ Liaison Counsel Committee for Personal Injury/Wrongful Death cases pending in federal court. Our attorneys are committed to obtaining full and just compensation for those who have been injured in accidents caused by defective Toyota vehicles and other faulty automobiles. To learn more about how we can help with your case, please call 877-800-1700.
Federal officials are investigating a near-collision of a commercial airliner and a news helicopter over a Houston airport runway, the Houston Chronicle reports. The incident involved a Southwest Airlines domestic flight carrying 140 passengers and a helicopter used by several local news stations. The aircrafts came within 125 feet of each other, and both pilots were forced to take evasive maneuvers to avoid colliding. No injuries were reported.
Preliminary findings indicate that both aircrafts had been given unrestricted clearance to takeoff by air traffic controllers, implicating fault on the part of ground control. However, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) are conducting a thorough investigation of the incident and consider the case to still be open. The goal of the investigation is to determine the exact events leading to the near-accident and how helicopter and plane crashes like these can be prevented.
This is the third near-collision involving a Southwest operated aircraft since February. Southwest officials have said that they are cooperating fully with the federal investigation but declined to further comment on the matter.
While fast and efficient air travel still poses many safety risks to the general public. Helicopters share air and runway space with much larger commercial airliners and rely on the competence of ground controllers to prevent catastrophic aviation crashes. If you have been injured in a helicopter accident, call the experienced helicopter injury crash attorneys at Panish Shea & Boyle LLP at (877) 800-1700 for a free and comprehensive consultation about your case.
The LA Times reports that one person has died from electrocution and another has been critically injured in an explosion that occurred during the early morning hours on July 30 at a metal works paint company in South Los Angeles. The deceased man died from electrocution after a live wire fell on his vehicle, which was parked next to the building’s gas meter. The critically injured man endured severe burns and other serious injuries after being thrown from the building that exploded.
The investigation into the explosion revealed the cause to be illegal tampering with a gas line, which led to an unmonitored, high-pressure flow of gas into the building. JL Spray, the company who occupied the building that exploded, stated that the company’s gas had been turned off the day before the accident. At the time of the article’s release, it was not certain who had tampered with the gas line; however, the incident is being referred to as a “severe accident”, not as a homicide.
The explosion marked the third industrial accident in the last month within the South Los Angeles area.
While construction workers are typically the most at risk of suffering severe injury or death from electrocution, this type of accident can affect any individual who travels through or near unsafe or improperly managed premises. Even when an individual is fortunate enough to survive an electrocution accident, some victims endure significant damage to the lungs and heart, chronic pain, severe burns, disfigurement, nerve damage, and psychological trauma.
The Los Angeles electrocution accident lawyers at Panish Shea & Boyle LLP have the legal knowledge and skill to assist injured victims and the family members of wrongful death victims in obtaining full and just compensation. No matter how complex your case may seem, our attorneys can help. Call 877-800-1700 for a free consultation and to learn more about your legal options.
