In-flight Aircraft Accidents

In the majority of Alaska aircraft accidents, casualties are almost always inevitable. While some accidents result in injuries, others result in fatalities. Accidents occur due to a variety of reasons. For example, some accidents that occur in-flight are due to turbulence. According to the Federal Aviation Administration about fifty-eight (58) passengers are injured every year in turbulence related accidents and a number of other passengers suffer injuries as a result of baggage falling out of overheard bins or as result of slips and falls or on the way to rest rooms. When such incidents occur, aircraft passengers may be eligible to file legal claims against the airline, its employees, the aircraft and component manufacturer or even the Federal Aviation Administration.

According to one estimate four thousand five hundred (4500) passengers are injured every year from falling baggage. Another cause of inflight injuries is rolling food carts. These food carts can cause injuries to seated passengers by ramming into arms, shoulders or other body parts. Such carts can even hit passengers that are moving in the cabin. As such, some passengers sustain ankle or other injuries when they fall or bang into objects while going to the lavatory or moving about in the cabin.

Turbulence also plays a large role in the number of injuries sustained every year. Bumpy rides can result in passengers and or crew members who are not wearing their seatbelts to be thrown out of their seats. A report was made in September 2015 with respect to a flight traveling over the Philippines on which forty (40) passengers and crew members were injured onboard when flight encountered turbulence.

When it comes to legal action related to injuries sustained on an aircraft, it dependents on what or who caused the accident to occur. Some common causes of inflight accidents are:

• Negligence based claims – this is where an accident is caused by the carelessness or negligence or inattention of an airline employee (i.e. pilot, ground crew member, maintenance worker or flight attendant). In such claims, there is need to prove that the law required the defendant to be reasonably careful and that as a result of the carelessness the passenger sustained his or her injuries. An example of negligence is where an airline employee fails to properly latch an overhead bin which opens midflight and dumps baggage on a passenger’s head.


• Turbulence and “acts of God” – an airline is not accountable for accident causes termed “acts of God”. “Acts of God” are unforeseen occurrences or events that cannot be prevented. Turbulence is an “act of God” as the airline cannot anticipate turbulence. However, in some scenarios airlines cannot plead accidents to be “acts of God”. For example, if a flight crew was able to foresee turbulence (which they can do) but failed to warn passengers to fasten their seatbelts they may be liable for the passengers’ injuries.

For more information on aircraft accidents and legal claims action, contact a respected law firm in Alaska.

For a respectable law firm in Alaska, the author recommends the Crowson Law Group.