Over $1 Billion in verdicts and recoveries
Handling Catastrophic Cases
Nationwide Since 1984
Call Us Toll-Free 1-800-474-1339
KANSAS CITY 816-474-8080

WE ARE A LAW FIRM THAT GETS RESULTS - OVER $1 BILLION IN VERDICTS AND RECOVERIES

Our attorneys at Robb & Robb have been fighting for justice and legal rights on behalf of plane and helicopter crash victims and their family members  for more than three decades.  We have an unsurpassed record of success in aviation law.  And we wrote the book on helicopter aviation accident law.

Some of the UNITED STATES RECORD OUTCOMES obtained by our plane and helicopter crash attorneys at the law firm of Robb & Robb include:

  • The two highest jury verdicts in the history of the United States for helicopter accident trials  – $350 million and $70 million.
  • The largest pre-trial cash settlement for any individual injury in U.S. history – $100 million.
  • The two largest pre-trial aviation settlements in U.S. history for a single injury in a helicopter crash  – $100 million and $38 million.

We have triumphed nationwide against corporate giants. Highlights of some of our many successes in aviation accidents include::

  • A $350 million verdict for a pilot killed in a Life Flight helicopter crash.
  • A $100 million settlement for a flight nurse’s severe burn injuries in a medical helicopter manufactured by Airbus and operated by Air Methods – accident in Colorado.
  • A $70 million verdict for a passenger/patient’s  wrongful death in a Life Flight helicopter accident.
  • A $52.5 million settlement for a DeHavilland Twin Otter skydiver plane crash in Missouri with 5 fatalities ($10.5 million for each victim).
  • A $38 million settlement for a young woman severely injured in a Papillion sightseeing helicopter crash at the Grand Canyon.
  • A $27.5 million settlement for wrongful death arising out of the crash of a Teledyne Continental Motors aircraft.
  • A $26 million settlement for a real estate executive and his wife in a wrongful death suit for the crash of a Cessna aircraft in North Carolina.

and many more…..

"For over thirty years, our law firm's aviation focus has been on representing families in helicopter and private plane crash lawsuits.
Experience Counts and Results Matter."

HELICOPTER CRASH ATTORNEYS WITH UNSURPASSED RESULTS

Helicopter crashes within the United States are occurring with alarming frequency. One-half (1/2) of the entire worldwide civil helicopter fleet operates in the United States, and thirty-six percent (36%) of all helicopter crashes occur here. According to the NTSB – National Transportation Safety Board –  there were 15 fatal crashes in the first six months of 2019 alone—resulting in the deaths of 27 people.  From 2001 to 2005, the accident rate for civil helicopter use per 100,000 flight hours was forty percent (40%) higher than that for general aviation fixed-wing aircraft. The helicopter industry itself has acknowledged that the current helicopter accident rate is “excessive and unsustainable.”

Helicopter components and controls are  complex. The main and tail rotor, drive shaft, gearshift, and other components and systems are all in constant motion—and all need to work in perfect concert to keep the helicopter in the air.  And in the event of a failure, unlike an airplane, a helicopter does not glide.  A mechanical malfunction on any part of the aircraft can result in a catastrophic  aviation accident with serious injuries and wrongful deaths involved.

Helicopters also are used for dangerous flight missions.   The typical helicopter flight mission places an already difficult-to-fly aircraft into an even more difficult and hazardous environment. The lower flight altitude of helicopters as compared with fixed-wing aircraft brings them in closer proximity to on-ground hazards such as radio control towers, utility wires, mountains, or tall buildings. As a result of the powerful impact forces involved in a helicopter crash, the likelihood of those occupants’ sustaining severe and disabling injuries and fatalities is substantial.  Typical helicopter flight missions include air ambulance and medical evacuations, sightseeing and touring, law enforcement and border patrol, utility wire inspections, firefighting, news gathering, search and rescue, private transportation, and offshore platform transports.

WE ARE THE COUNTRY’S LEADING LAW FIRM ON HELICOPTER CRASH RESISTANT FUEL SYSTEMS (CRFS)Our law firm has been on the leading edge of advocating for Crash Resistant Fuel Systems (CRFS) in helicopters for almost 20 years. This technology has been available since the 1960s, but the helicopter industry has resisted utilizing it. As a result, even a routine hard landing can result in a devastating and disabling post-crash fire. We have handled many of these cases, including the two highest results in U.S. history, a $100 million settlement for the 90% burn injuries to David Repsher in a 2015 helicopter crash, and one of the very first substantial settlements in 2001 for Chana Daskal’s burn injuries sustained in a Grand Canyon helicopter crash.

RECORD SETTING RESULTS IN PRIVATE PLANE CRASH LITIGATION

Private plane crash lawsuits are complex and challenging. Private aircraft do not have the “black boxes” that commercial planes do.  In addition,  regulation and enforcement of maintenance and certification procedures are not nearly as rigorous for private aircraft. When damage and defects aren’t detected and remedied, plane crashes result.

Despite the challenges, our aviation accident attorneys have obtained record-setting results on behalf of our clients. We routinely represent victims of private and charter airplane crashes. These accident cases involve:

General aviation refers to all flights other than military and scheduled airline and cargo flights. The majority of air traffic in the United States falls into this category. Most of the airports in the United States, around 5,300, serve general aviation exclusively. According to the NTSB, in 2009 over twenty million flight hours were flown by general aviation aircraft such as private planes, business jets and chartered aircraft. In that same year, 1,474 accidents were reported involving general aviation aircraft. NTSB and FAA  statistics from 2013 reveal that in contrast to the safety record of commercial airplanes, small private planes average five accidents per day, accounting for nearly 500 American deaths in small planes each year.

Our private plane crash lawyers have successfully represented the families of executivescharter passengers, and crews involved in crashes of private aircraft including Cessna and DeHavilland planes.  Our airplane crash lawyers have obtained record setting results on behalf of our clients.  Robb & Robb’s private plane crash attorneys have represented victims of private and charter plane crashes involving executive and business travel, skydiving, sightseeing, and other medical and emergency situations.

WHAT CAUSES PRIVATE PLANE CRASHES – There are a variety of causes. The conduct of the pilot is, rightly or wrongly, always a focus. This is particularly true with private planes, whose pilots are sometimes part-time.  However, chartered private planes can run into trouble even if they’re flown by the most  experienced professional pilots. Bad weather is a frequent cause of crashes; small aircraft are often more strongly affected by bad weather than commercial planes. Other causes of chartered plane crashes include running out of fuel, air traffic control errors, or striking wildlife or stationary objects. But some of the more common causes we see involve defects in equipment, such as:

Our chartered plane crash lawyers handle cases of fatal and catastrophic crashes caused by equipment defects, pilot error, air traffic control errors, fuel mismanagement, and more.

Gary C. Robb has been recognized by his peers as one of the top aviation accident lawyers in the country. He served for four years as Co-Chair of the Aviation Litigation Committee of the American Bar Association (ABA) Section of Litigation and is the Immediate Past Chair of the Aviation Section of the American Association for Justice (AAJ) (formerly ATLA) which is the largest organization of Plaintiffs’ aviation attorneys in the world. Mr. Robb also has served as Chair of AAJ’s Products Liability Section.

He has written and spoken often to attorney groups on aviation topics, having published articles in TRIAL Magazine on “How to Select and Use Aviation Experts,” and “General Aviation Cases; Investigating the Case and Knowing the Law and Applicable Rules.” Mr. Robb’s presentation at the most recent Aviation Attorney Section at the AAJ Annual Convention was on “Damages in Aviation Cases.”

Put our aviation accident lawyers to work for you.

“For over thirty years, our legal team’s aviation focus has been on representing families in helicopter and private plane crash lawsuits. Experience counts and results matter.”

We’re the aviation accident lawyers that other personal injury attorneys look to when they need an experienced authority in aviation law.

We would be honored to put our specific experience in these types of cases to work for your family. At such a difficult time, it is so important to have legal counsel you can trust to handle your case with the special professional care it deserves. From pilot error to negligence to defective equipment,  our aviation crash attorneys will conduct the investigation necessary to determine your legal rights and work to obtain the full compensation and justice that you are entitled to.

A reference list of past clients and referring lawyers available upon request. Call us toll-free at (800) 474-1339 for a free case review to discuss your case.

Our law firm does not solicit clients for litigation – we never have, and we never will.

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