Air Safety And Law

The final report on a hard landing of an Airbus A320 faults the pilots, but also points to known deficiences regarding the aircraft. The report highlights something that has been a subject of previous articles I’ve published — how modern automated flight-control systems sometimes confuse pilots and result in unintended hazards.

The A320 has wing need someone write my paper surfaces called speed brakes or spoilers that deploy automatically at touchdown

to reduce lift and help the airplane’s slow down.

A brand new A320, operated by a unit of Grupo SATA, had a hard landing after the pilots mistakenly did not reduce the thrust to idle, and accordingly the airplane’s flight-control computers didn’t order immediate spoiler deployment. This caused the airplane to become airborne after takeoff and then slam back on the ground.

Apparently Airbus received several reports of A320 hard landings caused by spoilers failing to deploy and it has reprogramed the flight computer to address this problem.

The National Transportation Safety Board has excluded American Airlines from participating in an accident investigation. The NTSB made the unusual decision because American Airlines improperly accessed black box information without the participation of the NTSB and other authorities.

Under the rules governing U.S. aviation accident investigations, the parties potentially responsible for an accident (e.g., the airplane manufacturer, the airline, the maintenance company, etc.) are permitted to participate in the investigation as “party representatives.” The rationale for this rule is that the NTSB must rely on the expertise of these parties. For example, the manufacturer of the airplane is able to identify components recovered in the wreckage and may be able to test the components to determine whether a mechanical failure caused the accident. If the NTSB suspects an engine failure, the engine manufacturer can take the engine and bench test it to see if it was capable of powering the aircraft. Of course, in doing the test the manufacturer may also destroy evidence that could identify problems with the engine and it is important that the NTSB fully document the condition of the wreckage before any testing is done.

The families of victims are not allowed to participate in the investigation, which is hard for many to accept because the families have the most vested interest in making sure the investigation is done properly and that the NTSB comes to the correct result about what caused the accident. No one cares more about the finding out what caused an accident than a family that lost a loved one. The representatives of parties permitted to participate in the investigations have conflicting interests. While they may be legitimately interested in the safety of their products or operations, a finding that something they did caused or contributed to an accident may have very serious financial implications.

By excluding American Airlines, the NTSB sent an important message to the parties permitted to participate in investigations. The NTSB should go one step farther and permit aviation victims’ to participate in the investigation. The oft-cited reason for not allowing the victims to

have their representatives participate is that they do not have the “expertise” that the NTSB needs, but perhaps the “expertise” that they would bring is to help the NTSB ensure that the investigation is not wrongly influenced by participants who may steer the investigation in the wrong direction to avoid financial responsibility.

The Zadroga Bill, a long awaited federal law which will provide health care, medical monitoring and financial compensation for World Trade Center rescue and recovery workers, is about to become a reality.
The Bill will allow the 9/11 victims to file claims in a new Victims’

Compensation Fund where the claims will be adjudicated by a special master. While the Bill is a huge step in the right direction, it will likely limit what the victims will receive because it will not be an unlimited fund. The special master will not only have to determine what each victim will receive, but will also have to consider how best to allocate the fund’s resources. In this regard, the “new” fund is different from the original 9/11 victims’ compensation fund, which

did not have an artificial limit. While Kenneth Feinberg fulfilled his obligations to the taxpayers in how he issued awards in the original fund, he did not have to artificially cap awards.
Victims need to protect their rights. The claims must be properly prepared, which may take months to do and aggressively presented to the fund. If you are suffering from exposure to toxins at ground zero, you should be taking the steps now to make sure your claim is timely presented to the fund and done in the best possible manner.

Today the Senate declared that it has not forgotten our 9/11 heroes.

The Senate has passed a bill that will provide much-needed money, $4.3 billion,

to cover healthcare costs for first responders who became ill from working at the site of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in New York City.

It is now up to the House to act.

Under the bill, as many as 25,000 victims who died or had their health negatively affected by World Trade Center attack would be eligible to enroll in the program. Both physical and mental illness would be addressed.

The

victims would be able to prepare and file claims in the Fund. From my experience representing claimants in the first Victim Compensation Fund, it is crucially important that the claims be properly prepared because the Fund administrators will require reliable information before making awards. If for example, a person is disabled from work, whoever prepares the claim must provide not only the proof that the person can’t work, but also the economic losses, both past and future, associated with the person’s disability.

I hope to hear that the House passes the bill and the President signs it before Christmas. It is the right thing to do.

Congress must act, and act now, to right a serious wrong.

Almost ten years ago, nineteen terrorists hijacked four airliners and murdered thousands of Americans. The very best of our citizens responded running toward the danger at ground zero. Many lost their lives that day. Others have lost their health, their welfare and are

slowly and painfully losing their lives.

After the disaster, Congress acted quickly to protect the aviation industry

which was in dire trouble because of the attacks and the industry’s general weakness at the time. Among other protections, Congress capped the liability of the aviation industry, including airlines and security companies, to whatever insurance they carried. Congress also set up a victims compensation fund, which ultimately provided much needed compensation to the families of the murdered. The compensation, although limited, provided financial security that was critically needed by the victims’ families. Setting up the victim compensation fund was the right thing to do and in a real way helped heal our nation after the horrible attacks. Imagine what it would have been like if we had turned our back on the victims’ families.

The suffering 9/11 first responders need our help. Congress needs to pass the Zadroga bill, which will provide critical medical benefits and compensations to the 9/11 responders, who were not covered by the first victim compensation fund. Passing the bill sends a message to the world that we have not forgotten the victims of 9/11, those that died that day and those that are dying today from illnesses contracted during heroic efforts.

Congress needs to pass the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act and should do it before Christmas.