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Home Practice Areas Alaska Overview Aviation Law

Aviation Law

Aviation is a highly specialized field of law, and one in which Birch, Horton, Bittner and Cherot excels. We have comprehensive experience in aviation matters such as:

• Aviation-related personal injury and wrongful death claims (prosecution and defense)
• Purchase, sale and lease of aircraft or aircraft companies
• Defense of operators, airmen and mechanics in administrative license actions
• Defense in criminal actions brought against pilots or operators

Notably, this experience comes not just from litigation and transactional support of such matters; a number of our attorneys are also pilots and aircraft owners themselves. Moreover, our attorneys have served as panel attorneys for the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association and are members of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) Bar Association.

Any air crash involving death or injury will prompt an investigation by the NTSB. This investigation may include removal and testing of important portions of the wreckage and component parts. Passengers or their families who may pursue a claim, as well as the aircraft manufacturers and the airline and charter companies who would defend such a claim, may be considered “interested parties” by the NTSB and receive information not available to others. An experienced aviation attorney acting on a client's behalf can acquire interested party status, monitor the NTSB investigation and hire aviation experts to make sure the NTSB does not overlook aspects of the crash that could yield evidence favorable to the client. Acting quickly to retain such experts can sometimes be crucial, so any private testing can be done or monitored even while the NTSB's investigation is ongoing, and before evidence becomes unavailable or is altered by destructive testing. BHBC’s aviation attorneys have experience in these matters and have developed relationships with aviation mechanics and former NTSB and FAA investigators now in private practice.

Similarly, whether the client is an injured plaintiff or a defending air carrier, pilot or mechanic, the identification of insurance policies and the solvency of the air carrier can be an issue. Aviation insurance policies and claims handling practices are often very different from other kinds of claims. A law firm that conducts an active commercial and bankruptcy practice as well as an aviation practice has a significant advantage when it comes to these issues.

The defense of FAA enforcement actions is also highly specialized, and only a small number of attorneys in any state are familiar with such actions. BHBC is such a firm, having defended countless operators, pilots and mechanics in these proceedings.

Finally, BHBC has handled commercial aircraft transactions from Piper Cubs to Boeing 737s, and from the employment of a single pilot to the sale or acquisition of entire aviation companies.

Attorneys

• Gregory A. Miller
• Timothy J. Petumenos
• David Karl Gross