When the FAA Investigates You
Some Basic Information on How to Protect Your Rights
To a certain extent, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is the judge, jury, and executioner when it comes to all matters dealing with civil aviation. If you are involved in an accident or incident, the FAA will investigate your actions to determine if administrative or legal action will be pursued against you. The FAA regulates activity pursuant to the Federal Aviation Regulations (FARs), and thus has the legal authority to investigate and prosecute you for violations of FARs.
In the unfortunate event that you or a loved one was involved in an airplane or helicopter accident, the decisions that you make will likely impact the remainder of your life. The death of a loved one in a plane crash is a horrible tragedy. The pain, loss, and emptiness that you experience may only be minimized by the passage of time. We know this, because our attorneys have represented people who have lost loved ones in plane crashes. We have recovered significant damages for family members of accident victims. During this very difficult time, you may be asked to make a decision that jeopardizes your legal rights. You need to make sure that your counsel is very familiar with aviation accidents, as they are not the same as typical accident cases.
This booklet is meant to give you basic information and checklists to help you in the unfortunate event that you are involved in an aviation accident or incident leading to a possible enforcement action by the FAA. Aviation accident and enforcement cases can be quite complex. While maybe not a comprehensive primer, this booklet still contains helpful information for victims of aviation incidents from the author’s college textbook Aviation Law.
This booklet is not to be taken as legal advice. It is helpful information for those who may have been in an aviation accident or are the subjects of an FAA enforcement action proceeding. Since each situation differs, legal advice can come only in the context of an attorney-client relationship. No attorney-client relationship is formed by ordering or receiving this book. We enter into such attorney-client relationships only through formal written agreements with clients.
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