Michael J. Schneider, Attorney at Law

Plane crashes typically result in immediate investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). While this is as it should be, NTSB investigators quickly scoop up a lot of stuff for their investigation thus putting those things out of reach of the injured, the dead, and their attorneys (e.g. the aircraft, its engine and component parts, its avionics, its owner’s manual, and any documentation of its weight and balance at the time of the crash). Attorneys who do these cases successfully know and regularly employ expert aviation investigators, engineers, pilots, and metallurgists to help them understand why a crash happened and who is responsible for the resulting death and injury.

Pilot error is a frequent cause of plane crashes, particularly in Alaska. It is useful to have the help of an attorney who is also a pilot. I began working on aviation cases in late 1975, have a commercial pilot rating and have been flying in Alaska since 1980. When Pilot error appears to be involved it is critical to figure out if the flight was commercial (air taxi, scheduled airline flight, flight made for a business purpose) because those who owned, operated, and maintained the aircraft may be liable for the pilot’s negligence even if not at fault (just as any employer is responsible for the negligence of an employee committed while on the job).

Yes, a suit can seek to recover the decedent’s conscious pre-death pain, suffering, anxiety, and fear of impending death. Suit can also be brought for economic loss (typically ambulance charges, medivac charges, medical bills and the like incurred before death).

Punitive damages are recoverable in both wrongful death and personal injury cases if it can be shown that the defendant’s conduct in causing the death met the standards of AS 09.17.020.

Criminal cases are brought (the case is owned and controlled) by the state and its political subdivisions (in Alaska, cities and boroughs) and by the federal government. Civil wrongful death actions (claims or law suits) are brought (asserted) by the personal representative of the decedent’s estate. The action is purely to recover money for those entitled to it.

AS 09.55.570 provides that a claim for harm and loss suffered before death “survives” and can be asserted by the decedent’s estate. AS 09.55.580, Alaska’s Wrongful Death Act, requires that an action for death be brought by the personal representative of the decedent’s estate. BE CAREFUL! It takes time to properly open an estate and achieve the appointment of a personal representative. If you wait too long to hire an attorney you may create problems that even a good attorney will have a hard time solving.

Good lawyers try to put cases entirely together so they have many months before the statute of limitations runs to negotiate a settlement for their client. Otherwise, the attorney has no choice but to file suit. And though most cases settle, it is pretty hard to know which ones will not settle. Good trial lawyers try to spare their clients this very real risk of going to trial. Every good attorney very much wants to get a case when the memories of the witnesses are fresh and reliable, before critical physical evidence gets lost or destroyed, and before potential clients inadvertently damage their claims in the process of dealing with insurance adjusters or defense lawyers: these people are professionals trained to make what you get for what’s been done to you just as small a number as possible.

As a legal matter, your suit must be filed on or before the second anniversary of the event that hurt or killed you or it will be barred by the statute of limitations. For injury or death claims by seamen (and women), and legal malpractice claims, the time limit is three years. Rarely these time limits can be extended by circumstances (e.g. your insanity, your injury while under the age of 18, your inability to be able to suspect that a product failure or negligent act or omission was the cause of injury or death, etc.). As a practical matter it is an extremely rare claim or case that gets better with age. The passage of time more often kills cases, including those being asserted well within the statute of limitations. Hire a good attorney as soon as you can. He or she will tell you if you have that rare claim or case that should be put off, and why.

DO NOT think you can make your claim a “do it yourself” project and get a good outcome. The insurance industry’s own numbers prove otherwise. Hire a good attorney as early as possible to guide you through the maze. DO NOT discuss the matter with the insurance adjuster for the at fault person or entity without either first hiring an attorney, or at a minimum, getting the advice of an attorney. DO NOT hold forth on social media or otherwise about the event or what it did to you. DO NOT fail to get prompt medical care and DO NOT fail to follow medical advice, particularly medical advice about follow up care or treatment and/or regarding how you should limit your activities to avoid making your injury worse. DO NOT fail to make a file, journal, or electronic file so you can accurately note dates/times/circumstances. DO NOT FAIL to title the organizational device “FOR MY ATTORNEY.” Do this whether you have an attorney or not, and do it even if you don’t plan to hire an attorney.

First of all, in Alaska and most states you can still recover if you were partially at fault in causing the event that hurt you: if you were 75% at fault you could still recover 25% of the value of your total harms and losses. But if you are being blamed in any way for the injury-causing event you need to hire a skilled attorney who can investigate the event and marshal all the facts tending to show you were not at fault or that your fault, if any, played only a small role in causing the event. This may require hiring engineers, accident reconstruction experts, or other “expert witnesses” so you need to find an attorney with the money to make these investments in your case.

You can seek compensation for any kind of harm or loss you have suffered, including physical harm, emotional harm, and monetary loss. Examples common to most cases include past and future medical bills, lost wages or lost earning capacity, loss of enjoyment of life, and pain.