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Pilot Error

After a helicopter crash, the first reaction always seems to be to blame the helicopter pilot and there are often clear cut claims that the pilot was at fault throughout the investigation file.

But remember that while there are many mistakes that can be made by a pilot that may cause a crash, in a significant majority of aviation cases, the pilot is the first blamed, when it was actually a defect in the aircraft outside his control that caused or contributed to the crash. In seemingly every aviation disaster case that the Nolan Law Group has successfully litigated over the years, the first one blamed was the pilot. In almost every one of those cases, someone other than the pilot also caused or contributed to the crash.

Of course, there are those cases of clear pilot error, many of which are related to mistakes in even being in the air. In excess of 40% of helicopter cases, poor visibility was a contributing factor to the crash. In those cases, the pilot often shares in the blame. But remember, in most cases the pilot is the employee of some corporate entity who ultimately is responsible for such error in judgment, or perhaps more directly, pressured the pilot into flying despite the known dangerous conditions.

Next: Design Error

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