Are Regional Airlines as Safe as Major Airlines? – Pennsylvania Wrongful Death and Catastrophic Injury Lawyer Weighs In
As a practicing Pennsylvania personal injury attorney for the last 31 years, I have traveled on many major airlines and regional air carriers. Many times when I book a ticket on a major airline such as Continental, I am placed on a regional carrier such as Colgan Air. Many small towns are served solely by regional carriers. As recently as last year, Flight 3407, a Colgan Air flight, crashed outside of Buffalo en route from Newark, New Jersey killing all 49 people aboard and 1 person on the ground.
Vice President of The Coalition of Airline Pilots Association, Jeff Skiles, stated that the standards for pilots with regional carriers have been lax in the past decade. He stated that 15 years ago aspiring pilots needed thousands of flying hours and at least five or ten years in the airline business before piloting a commercial flight. Right now “they are hiring literally right out of flight college, where you might have 2 hours of flying time,” Skiles said. “And all you have ever flown is a small propeller airplane that maybe travels at 100 mph. You are hired under a regional affiliate and go through a training process and simulator and your very next flight is in a corporate jet flying at 500 mph at some 30,000 feet in a high density traffic environment that you have never been in before with 50, 70, or even 100 passengers in the back.”
According to an investigation by the NTSB, the pilots for Colgan Air Flight 3407 to Buffalo were undertrained and fatigued. The flight transcripts revealed were not paying attention to signs that the flight was in trouble and they reacted incorrectly when the emergency safety devices were activated. For the past 18 months, the families of Colgan Air Flight 3407 have worked to get Congress to enact higher standards for regional pilots.
Typically we expect that air travel represents one of the safer modes of transportation. However, when an aviation accident occurs, the resulting injuries can be catastrophic. Investigating aviation accidents is a complex process. Pilot error and mechanical difficulties are often common causes.
The law firm of Reiff & Bily maintains an established relationship with airline accident experts and we know how to properly investigate plane accident cases. We have over 31 years of experience in handling complex personal injury claims and understand federal aviation rules and regulations. If you or a loved one has been a victim of an aviation accident or an unsafe incident on an airline that has caused injuries, you may be entitled to compensation to offset your expenses and make you whole as well as compensatory damages for pain and suffering. The experienced aircraft accident lawyers at Reiff & Bily are familiar with the investigation and prosecution of airplane disaster claims. For a free no obligation consultation, please feel free to contact one of our attorneys at 1-800-421-9595 or online at www.reiffandbily.com.
