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Most of us think about hiring an aviation attorneywhen you or someone in your family has been involved in an aircraft accident. Aviation law is highly specialized and knowledge of both aviation law and a familiarity of aircraft and aircraft systems is necessary to provide proper representation. Aviation Law is a very specialized area of law that regulates the operation, safety and maintenance of aircraft and aircraft facilities.

Aviation Law saw its beginnings in 1926 when the Air Commerce Act was passed which regulated the use of aircraft in interstate or foreign business. In 1938 the Civil Aeronautics Act was passed which created a five person panel to deal with aircraft, aviation facilities and aviation law within the United States. Later the FAA, the Federal Aviation Agency, was created.

Some violations of aviation Law which justify employing an aviation attorney include (but are not limited to) aviation insurance, FAA license violations, business disputes involving airplanes or airplane operation, minimizing aircraft ownership liability, the sale or purchase of an aircraft, maintenance deficiencies, loss of use, denial of insurance coverage/claims and FAA regulatory approval. There are many other areas where you may want to employ an airplane attorney to assist you with navigating issues relating to the ownership of an aircraft or aviation business.

But most people think about hiring aviation lawyers when there is a major airline crash; however, general aviation aircraft crash much more often, and while not involving large numbers of passengers, there are still issues relating to everything from dealing with the aircraft owner to working with the local law officials in order to make sure all concerns are answered and issues properly resolved.

Despite the scarcity of airline accidents most aviation lawyers are still busy working with fixed base operators to make sure that contracts, agreements and disputes are properly handled to arrive at a fair settlement for everyone involved.

Most personal injury attorneys and lawyers have limited, or no, knowledge of aviation law, and as such would be a poor choice to either defend you against a lawsuit or to pursues proper compensation if you are the injured party. A good aviation lawyer will probably also be a pilot, and have knowledge about aircraft systems, FAA rules and regulations and familiarity with NTSB and FAA investigations.

Another area that good aviation attorneys should be employed for is when a pilot has difficulty with a violation that affects their pilot’s license, or when there is a medical problem affecting their FAA medical certificate. All too often pilots assume the FAA will treat them fairly only to discover that their license is in jeopardy or winds up being revoked or suspended.

Pilots and aircraft owners find themselves faced with a lot of contracts ranging from aircraft rental forms to aircraft storage agreements to maintenance request forms. Unless the pilot is an attorney they may find out too late that an aircraft maintenance agreement has committed them to liability they might really not want to assume.

The bottom line is that aviation attorneys serve a vital function in the aviation industry and should be sought out and employed anytime you are confronted with a problem, contract or agreement. Don’t wait and find out too late you have incurred financial problems you don’t want or need.

Tags: airplane attorney, airplane disaster lawyer, aviation attorney, aviation lawyer