Overview
From major aircraft accidents to satellite risks to corporate financing and leasing arrangements, Locke Lord covers a wide range of issues affecting the aviation industry today. Our aviation attorneys have provided assistance to the aviation industry and its insurers for more than 50 years and count among our seasoned litigators an experienced pilot and an aerospace engineer.
With offices strategically located across the United States and in London, we service the needs of the world’s aviation insurers and their insureds throughout the Americas – whether in North America through our various offices or in Latin America and the Caribbean through our comprehensive international network of correspondents and contacts. Locke Lord has the ability to deal with matters that touch and concern countries throughout the region, seamlessly, through one firm.
Product Liability
In respect to products matters, the Locke Lord Aviation Team has defended claims relating to almost any part of an aircraft, from flight control components to landing gear and propellers. Manufacturers work hard to develop and market effective, safe aviation products. When their products are attacked, we guide them through the complexities of product liability. We work quickly to protect the products’ reputation and minimize the disruptions claims can cause. Our experience and background enable us to work with in-house counsel, product designers and engineers to develop defenses that take maximum advantage of the product research and development. We are equipped to defend against product liability claims in all jurisdictions. However, because of our extensive experience, we can also help clients prevent or reduce product liability claims by providing advice on product quality control, document retention and accident investigation objectives and techniques.
Airlines
Our lawyers have experience handling major airline cases throughout the United States, Canada, Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean. In addition, airlines from other regions and their aircraft lessors may be sued in U.S. courts, despite the flight, passengers and incident having little or no connection to the United States. We are recognized internationally as a leading firm in defending non-U.S. airlines and their aircraft lessors.
Airports
Locke Lord has experience representing airports and entities operating at airports concerning their legal liability for accidents, security, regulations and air traffic control matters that arise at the world’s airports. We work with both privately owned and government controlled airports. We provide an array of services for our clients in these areas, which include:
- Product integrity reviews and loss prevention training
- Drafting and evaluation of product literature
- Product recalls
- Liability assessment
- Leasing and satellite contract interpretation
- Accident investigation
- Crisis management and communications
- Representation for National Transportation Safety Board investigations and public hearings
- Defense of multi-district litigation for mass tort and punitive damages claims
- Hull claims, including surface and engine damage
- Federal, state and international regulatory compliance, including Warsaw and Montreal Conventions, International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), the U.S. International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) and the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC).
Since 2000, Locke Lord attorneys have represented airlines, airframe and component manufacturers or lessor and suppliers or security companies in connection with the following major losses:
- July 28, 2010 Airblue A321 near Islamabad, Pakistan – litigation pending.
- June 30, 2009 Yemenia A310 near Moroni, Comoros – litigation pending.
- August 20, 2008 Spanair MD-82 at Madrid, Spain – litigation pending.
- June 10, 2008 Sudan Airways A310 at Khartoum, Sudan – litigation pending.
- March 10, 2008 Adam Air B737 at Batam, Indonesia – case settled.
- March 7, 2007 Garuda B737 at Yogyakarta, Indonesia – case settled.
- January 1, 2007 Adam Air B737 near Sulawesi, Indonesia – case dismissed on FNC grounds.
- May 7, 2005 Metroliner 227 at Lockhart River, Queensland, Australia – litigation pending.
- January 3, 2004 Flash Airlines B737 into the Red Sea – case dismissed on FNC grounds.
- May 25, 2002 China Airlines B747 into the Taiwan Straits – case settled.
- September 11, 2001 American Airlines Flight 11 into World Trade Center – litigation pending.
- July 25, 2000 Air France Concorde near Gonesse, France – case settled.
- February 16, 2000 Emery DC-8 loss at Rancho Cordova, California – case settled.
- April 19, 2000 Air Philippines B737 at Daveo City, Philippines – case settled.
Aviation Insurance Coverage
Aviation insurers have long relied on Locke Lord to provide coverage counseling concerning all manners of aviation, airline and products liability insurance policies. Our attorneys are well acquainted with aviation wordings and their interpretations in the industry and by U.S. courts. We also understand the business relationships and have been counted on to provide cost-effective counseling and resolution for over three decades. Moreover, our experience against all major policyholder counsel have made us the choice to defend against contentious, high value coverage disputes when alternative resolutions fail. For example, we have defended insurers’ interests concerning coverage litigations over environmental damage at airports across the U.S. and Caribbean, the failed Boeing 702-series satellites, and, most recently, exposure claims made under the Alien Tort Statute by over 2,000 Ecuadorians arising out of aerial spray operations to eradicate drug crops in Colombia.