Airplane & Boating Accidents
Accidents with devastating consequences.
SUGARMAN has long litigated cases and claims involving airplane and boating accidents.
Because of the nature of the equipment and speeds involved, these lawsuits usually involve catastrophic injuries or tragic deaths. These accidents are thankfully rare, but they do occur. And, of course, these cases are not limited to crashes and other disasters. Injuries to passengers can occur inside the plane or vessel, and during boarding.
These personal injury lawsuits all involve complicated legal and factual issues, from establishing the cause of such accidents, to proving negligence and causation, to legal issues of what law to apply and which courts have jurisdiction. Lawyers with actual experience litigating and trying airplane and boating accident cases are fairly rare – SUGARMAN’s personal injury lawyers have that experience.
We have represented clients in cases involving airplane equipment malfunction, small plane pilot error, mid-air collisions, negligent operation of boats on area lakes, injuries suffered by swimmers struck by boats, and injuries suffered by workers and fishermen at sea and in port under the Jones Act.
If you or a loved one has been injured in an airplane or boating accident, the injury lawyers at SUGARMAN are here to help.
Types of Airplane & Boating Accidents
Airplane Accidents and Crashes
Proving which person or company is responsible for a plane crash or other aviation accident - whether from pilot error, mechanical failure, improper maintenance, runway defect, air traffic controller error, or other cause - requires a highly specialized set of skills and expert legal representation.Learn More
Defective airplane cargo loader
Settlement in product liability suit for a Logan Airport airline worker who sustained crush injuries to his pelvis and hip when the safety rails on a cargo loader failed to activate, allowing a 1,500 lb. pallet to fall on top of the worker.
Frutin v. Dryvit Systems, Inc., 760 F. Supp 234 (D. Mass. 1990)
The Court ruled that the United States can be held liable under the Federal Tort Claims Act for failure to issue a traffic advisory. The trial that followed resulted in a jury award to SUGARMAN's client for a below-the-knee amputation suffered by a student pilot in a mid-air collision.
Boating Accidents and Injuries
In Boston and throughout Massachusetts, commercial and recreational boating is a way of life. Not surprisingly, boating accidents are too. Lawsuits involving injuries suffered in boating accidents, often referred to as "admiralty" cases, involve various aspects of state and federal law depending on who the injured parties are and where and in what manner the boating accident occurs.Learn More
Ship worker fractures knee on deck of vessel
Soon after initiation of a lawsuit bringing negligence claims under general maritime law as well as the Jones Act, SUGARMAN attorneys were able to settle the claim of a long-time marine vessel steward who suffered a severe patellar fracture requiring surgical repair followed by a total knee replacement. The steward had slipped on untreated ice on the deck of a vessel after arriving at work early in the morning.
Seaman drowned at George's Bank during storm
Settlement reached for a seaman who was washed overboard by a large wave while fishing on George's Bank. The Captain's failure to properly monitor changing weather conditions provided enough for recovery under the Jones Act.
