Head injuries suffered aboard commercial air flights can be serious matters. Whether it is a turbulence-related accident or an impact with a piece of luggage that falls from an overhead compartment, the effects can be significant and long-lasting. If you’ve suffered a head injury aboard a flight, it’s possible that accident was the result of the airline’s negligence and you may be entitled to financial compensation. Be sure to contact an experienced Chicago aviation accident attorney to discuss your situation and your legal options.
An international flight experienced an unplanned detour recently due a passenger who possibly suffered a head injury during the flight. Shortly after 5:00 a.m., a passenger aboard the American Airlines Philadelphia-to-Prague flight fell and experienced at least one seizure. After she visited the plane’s restroom, the passenger, a woman in her 50s, fell again, Irish Examiner reported.
After the second incident, the plane’s flight crew chose to divert and landed at Shannon Airport. The passenger was transported to a hospital in Limerick, as the plane’s crew had become concerned that the woman had suffered a head injury during the first incident and the effects of that head injury were the cause of her second incident, according to the report.
Many of the facts surrounding this woman’s head injury were not known or not disclosed in the report. What is known, however, is that head injuries are one of the more common accidents that occur on commercial flights.
One type of accident is a scenario where a passenger suffers a head injury as a result of turbulence, with that turbulence causing him/her to hit a seat back, arm rest, window or other part of the plane. Another common source of aviation head injuries are the overhead compartments. If a compartment pops open unexpectedly, the luggage inside can tumble out and strike the head of an unsuspecting passenger. Some of these bags can strike with considerable force and cause serious injuries, especially if you are hit by a heavy bag or by a bag’s wheel, handle or another piece of hard plastic.
If you suffer one of these kinds of injuries on your flight to or from O’Hare or Midway, your Chicago aviation injury attorney may be able to help you get an award of damages. To win, you need evidence that the airline was negligent. That means you need proof that the accident that caused your injury was not unpreventable, but was something that the airline knew about or should have known about, but yet failed to address properly.
For example, if the flight crew knew or should have known that the plane might experience turbulence, but nevertheless did not turn on the “fasten seat belts” sign, and you suffered a head injury because you were unbuckled, then you may have a winning case based on the airline’s negligence.
Similarly, if you’re injured because an overhead compartment’s clasp failed, and you can prove that the airline failed to spot the defect due to unreasonably lax maintenance procedures, then you might be entitled to compensation. Additionally, if a crew member failed to fasten an overhead compartment properly, and you were hit by luggage falling from that compartment, the crew member’s negligence may mean that the airline is liable for your damages.
To get a favorable result and get the compensation you need, you’ll need to know what evidence you need, how to go about obtaining that proof, and how to synthesize all of it into an understandable and persuasive case. For that kind of effective legal representation, contact the skilled Chicago aviation accident attorneys at Katz, Friedman, Eisenstein, Johnson, Bareck & Bertuca. Our attorneys are here to help you with your aviation injury. To set up a free case evaluation, contact us at 312-724-5846 or through our website.