Founder and Managing Partner
“Courage is being scared to death…and saddling up anyway” ~ John Wayne
People often try to get the attention of firefighters in an emergency situation, sometimes by screaming and waving their arms. One desperate person who was moments from disaster did so by tapping the firefighter’s moving car – – with his airplane’s wing! Of course, the pilot couldn’t have known at the time that the car he tapped as it drove along 405 Freeway contained a man ready to help save his life.
The California airplane accident which followed that brush with an off-duty fireman’s car on the 405 Freeway in Santa Ana left the small twin-engine airplane’s pilot and his wife seriously injured after the plane burst into flames upon impact with the freeway. Reportedly uninjured himself, the firefighter and several others stopped and pulled the couple from the burning wreckage of the ill-fated aircraft.
According to authorities, the pilot reported a “Mayday” due to “losing the right engine” just after take-off and was trying to return to John Wayne Airport but came up short and crashed into a freeway divider. At least four vehicles on the ground were involved. The plane hit the fireman’s vehicle and then “traveled across lanes and crashed into another vehicle”. A handful of additional vehicles were either grazed by the plane or crashed into the plane’s debris on the freeway, but there were no reported serious injuries on the ground.
While airplane accidents can result from pilot errors or air-traffic control negligence, they may also be due to equipment malfunctions or design defects, as well as faulty repair or maintenance. Whatever the cause, airplane accident victims are entitled to compensation for their physical, emotional, and financial damages just as if it was a car accident. That includes victims on the ground as well as the plane’s passengers and the pilot if s/he was not at fault.
In order to prevail in a personal injury lawsuit, you must be able to prove that your damages resulted from the negligent, reckless, or intentional actions or inactions of another person or entity. Once liability is established, you may be entitled to compensation for such losses as medical costs, future medical costs, lost income and future lost income, property damage, pain and suffering, and more.
If you or a loved one has been the victim of an airplane accident, car accident, or any other accident, the experienced personal injury attorneys at the Law Firm of J&Y are here to help. Contact us today for a free consultation. With headquarters in Los Angeles and 21 offices throughout California, quality legal help and compassion is right around the corner.