Tuesday, July 23, 2013

Ground Matters

News is now filtering in about a recent commercial airline accident apparently owing to a front landing gear malfunction.


View more videos at: http://nbcnewyork.com.

There have been several accidents or incidents at New York's LaGuardia Airport, including this one. There was Flight 5050, where a 737 went off a runway


And, of course, there was Captain "Sully" Sullenberger and the "Miracle on the Hudson"


All of these events, together with the recent tragedy in San Francisco, highlights how important the aviation environment and airports are even beyond safety in the national airspace.  The Federal Aviation Administration ("FAA") strictly regulates most airport operations.  Ground operations can make aviation incidents worse, or as apparently happened in this case, well, not as bad.  

From a legal perspective, aviation accidents involve many more actors than just the airplane and its crew.  Air traffic control, ground operators, manufacturers, and many other parties are involved (thought not necessarily responsible or liable) both in accident litigation - and aviation safety.