Aviation Cases Attorney in Petaluma, California

What is your experience in handling aviation cases?

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00:04
i’ve been involved in
00:05
aviation cases since late 1983
00:10
my first work in aviation was
00:14
writing an appeal on a small craft that
00:17
was
00:18
involved in fighting fires in central
00:20
california
00:22
and because of the direction that they
00:25
received they went into a dangerous area
00:28
and ultimately the plane failed and
00:30
crashed
00:31
the technical aspects of the case
00:34
fascinated me even though i’d never
00:37
really had an interest in
00:38
airplanes before that so i went on to
00:41
handle a number of aviation cases
00:44
and develop an expertise in that area so
00:47
one of my cases scott versus trinity
00:49
helicopters
00:50
involved a young electrical worker
00:53
who was doing dangerous work up along
00:56
high power lines
00:58
working on the towers repairing them and
01:00
maintaining them and the way they get up
01:02
there
01:03
was to ride on the skid of a helicopter
01:06
and to have the helicopter drop them at
01:08
the top of the tower
01:09
when a helicopter pilot is dropping
01:12
an industrial worker an electrical
01:14
worker often
01:15
at the top of the tower they have to
01:18
rest the skid
01:19
on the edge of the tower the skid of the
01:21
helicopter
01:23
the electrical workers standing on that
01:25
skid and he hooks
01:27
on to the helicopter at the beginning of
01:29
the ride and then he hooks onto the
01:30
tower when they get up there
01:33
if the helicopter is underpowered or if
01:36
the helicopter pilot doesn’t operate the
01:38
helicopter correctly
01:40
the helicopter will start to rotate and
01:43
ultimately as in this case may flip
01:45
and this one flipped over and crashed to
01:48
the ground knocking my client
01:50
down to the bottom of the tower as well
01:53
this was a case that involved
01:55
challenging
01:56
the company that hired the helicopter
01:59
company
02:00
for failing to hire properly trained
02:03
properly equipped helicopters
02:05
and against the helicopter company
02:08
itself
02:09
because the pilot didn’t assess the
02:12
situation
02:13
with the care required under the
02:15
standard of care for a pilot
02:17
and then failed to operate the
02:19
helicopter
02:20
in an appropriate manner causing the
02:23
helicopter to flip
02:24
another aviation case i worked on was
02:28
some time ago the bill graham wrongful
02:31
death case
02:32
bill graham was a famous rock producer
02:34
up in northern california
02:37
he was in a helicopter after an event
02:41
and the helicopter struck wires and fell
02:44
wire strikes are common causes of
02:46
helicopter accidents
02:48
sometimes it’s the fault of the people
02:51
who put up the wires in a dangerous
02:52
place
02:53
often it’s the fault of the pilot who
02:56
has
02:57
the first level responsibility for
03:00
making sure
03:01
that there’s clearance for the
03:02
helicopter when he takes off
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that case was a combination of pitting
03:09
the helicopter company against the
03:11
utility that put up the wires
03:14
developing a crossfire between them so
03:17
while i blame them both
03:19
they were also blaming each other and
03:20
that created a dynamic that
03:23
was able to compel a very good outcome
03:27
for the clients

Petaluma, CA personal injury attorney Jon Gertler talks about his experience in handling aviation cases.

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