Common Carrier Liability

California Disaster Lawyers » Los Angeles Common Carrier Liability Attorneys

The Federal government has created regulations regarding the liability to passengers injured while using a common carrier. A common carrier is one who represents to the public that its business is one of transporting persons or cargo from place to place for compensation, and such services are generally open to the public. Generally, commercial buses, ferries, trains, and airplanes are considered common carriers. There are some exceptions to this definition, such as with airplanes, vessels, "scenic railroads" or private charter transportation. In most situations, a common carrier is generally required to use the highest degree of care, diligence and vigilance in the transport of its passengers to the appropriate destination. The carrier must have the necessary equipment and a reasonable degree of skill to carry out the transportation of passengers.

In California, a common carrier must use the utmost care and diligence for the safe carriage of its passengers, must provide everything necessary for that purpose, and must exercise to that end a reasonable degree of skill. Cal. Civil Code §2100. This duty requires a common carrier do all that human care, vigilance and foresight reasonably can do under the circumstances. It includes protecting passengers from assaults by others, including fellow passengers when the common carrier knows or should know that an assault is about to occur. City and County of San Francisco v. Superior Court (1994, 1st District) 31 Cal.App.4th 45, 38 Cal.Rptr. 2d 372.

Common carriers are not, however, insurers of their passengers' safety. Rather, the degree of care and diligence that they must exercise is only such as can reasonably be exercised consistent with the character and mode of conveyance adopted and the practical operation of the business of the carrier. In common carrier accident cases it is essential that measures be taken promptly to preserve evidence, investigate the accident in question and to enable physicians or other expert witnesses to thoroughly evaluate any injuries.

If you or a loved one is a victim of a common carrier accident, call Nadrich & Cohen, LLP now at 1-800-718-4658 or CLICK HERE TO SUBMIT A SIMPLE CASE FORM . The initial consultation is free of charge, and if we agree to accept your case, we will work on a contingent fee basis, which means we get paid for our services only if there is a recovery. Don't delay! You may have a valid claim and be entitled to compensation for your injuries, but a lawsuit must be filed before the statute of limitations expires.

California helicopter accident lawyers » Los Angeles Common Carrier Liability Attorneys

2008 was the deadliest year in history for helicopter emergency service industry crashes, with 7 accidents and 28 deaths. As a result, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) have taken action for purposes of helping with helicopter safety. They have now implemented additional outline and solutions for safety concerning helicopters.

For helicopter lawyers and their investigators, helicopter cases are unique both in a factual and legal manner as they are not a typical negligence or product liability case. We get involved very early in a helicopter case with a thorough investigation and a solid understanding of what happened and the laws and regulations that govern the accident.

Almost in every aviation case, whether plane or helicopter, we will not have access to the helicopter or aircraft. The NTSB will take control of the wreckage. They do not permit other parties to inspect the wreckage until the NTSB releases it. This can take years.

What complicates a helicopter investigation is that the usual defendant - the manufacturers - can and do write a report of the causes and reasons for the crash. Their report oftentimes is co-opted by the NTSB and made a part of their official report.

What we do to succeed in these cases is obtain eyewitness testimony, air traffic control communications, radar data, scene photographs, maintenance records, medical records of the crew and the airmen certificate. We also will get the logbooks for the helicopter’s hull and maintenance records after the crash.

All of the above will begin to tell us the story as to what happened and what defects may have contributed to the crash. We may find out that certain helicopter parts which are time limited which means they have to be replaced by a certain time period were not and that they could have failed causing the crash.

With the above we can now develop a theory as to what happened and therefore a theory to obtain a recovery for our clients. Our experts have extensive experience with all types of aircraft and with all models and series of helicopters. We will also use engineering experts such as crash reconstruction analysts, metallurgists, and aeronautical engineers.

If the operator of the helicopter is the United States Government, then we have the additional issue of the government contractor defense. In reality, this defense can shield a contractor from personal injury liability due to a design defect. However, they are not absolved of liability if there is a manufacturing defect that we can prove or a civilian component which we can prove was related to the cause of the crash.

As you can see, helicopter crashes present unique issues, both factually and legally. We succeed because of our world-class experts, in-depth investigation, legal research on every issue that may come up and careful analysis. We hire the very best experts to get the very best results for our clients.

If you or a loved one was injured or killed in a helicopter crash, please contact one of our attorney intake aviation specialists at Nadrich & Cohen. We handle helicopter crashes throughout California and throughout the country. We are now investigating several military aircraft crashes in the war countries, including Afghanistan and Iraq. Please call us at 800-718-4658 or please complete the email inquiry on the right and a representative will be in touch with you within one day. Remember, you need to act right away or your deadlines could be lost. Please contact us today.