If you survived an aviation accident or lost a family member in one, you have legal rights that airlines, insurance companies, and other parties may not readily explain to you. Understanding these rights helps you navigate the aftermath of an accident, avoid mistakes that could limit your recovery, and ensure that responsible parties are held accountable for the harm caused.
The days and weeks following an aviation accident involve emotional devastation, medical concerns, and practical complications. During this difficult time, knowing your rights helps you protect yourself while you focus on recovery and grieving.
Your Right to Information
Airlines must provide basic information about passengers involved in accidents to family members. Federal regulations require airlines to maintain family assistance programs that include providing confirmed passenger lists to families and offering updates on search and rescue operations. You have a right to know whether your family member was on the flight and what the airline knows about their status.
The Family Assistance Act requires airlines to have plans for notifying families before releasing passenger names publicly. Airlines must also provide logistical support to families traveling to accident sites or hospitals. If an airline fails to provide timely, accurate information, document these failures—they may reflect broader patterns of negligence or indifference.
NTSB investigations produce factual information about accidents that eventually becomes public. While investigations take time, families can request to be kept informed of investigation progress. You have a right to access the public docket of the investigation once materials are released.
Your Right to Compensation
Survivors of aviation accidents have the right to pursue compensation for injuries, medical expenses, lost wages, pain and suffering, and other damages. These rights exist under common law, state statutes, and international treaties depending on the type of flight and where the accident occurred.
Family members of those killed in aviation accidents have wrongful death and potentially survival action claims. No one can legally pressure you to waive these rights or to accept inadequate compensation. While airlines and insurers may make early settlement offers, you are under no obligation to accept them.
The Montreal Convention provides strong protections for international flight passengers and their families. Strict liability up to approximately 170,000 USD means you need not prove airline fault to recover substantial damages. Airlines cannot contract away these rights—any ticket provisions purporting to limit Montreal Convention liability are void.
Your Right to Legal Representation
You have the absolute right to consult with and hire an attorney before speaking with airline representatives, insurance adjusters, or investigators. Airlines and insurers have teams of lawyers protecting their interests from the moment an accident occurs. You deserve equivalent protection for your interests.
Attorneys typically handle aviation accident cases on contingency, meaning you pay nothing unless they recover compensation for you. This arrangement makes experienced legal representation accessible regardless of your current financial situation. The contingency system exists precisely so that accident victims can afford counsel against well-resourced defendants.
You should not sign any documents, make recorded statements, or agree to settlements without first consulting an attorney. What you say in the immediate aftermath of an accident can affect your legal rights. An attorney can advise you on what to say and what to avoid saying while protecting your ability to seek full compensation later.
Your Right to Refuse Early Settlements
Airlines often contact accident victims and families within days of accidents, offering immediate financial assistance and settlement payments. These offers may be presented as compassionate gestures, but they typically include releases that limit or eliminate your future claims.
You are under no obligation to accept early offers. Taking time to understand the full extent of injuries, to consult with attorneys, and to assess the true value of claims is not only permitted—it is wise. Early settlements almost always undervalue claims because the full extent of harm is not yet known.
Airlines may offer to cover immediate expenses like funeral costs, medical bills, or travel without requiring releases. You can accept these limited offers while preserving other claims. However, read anything you sign carefully—what appears to be limited assistance may contain broader release language.
Your Right to Participate in Investigations
While the NTSB controls accident investigations, families have certain participation rights. The NTSB provides family liaisons and may allow family representatives to observe investigation proceedings. You can provide information to investigators about the victim that may be relevant to understanding the accident.
Your attorney can engage experts to conduct independent investigation parallel to NTSB efforts. Nothing requires you to rely solely on government findings. Independent investigation may reveal information the NTSB did not pursue or conclusions that support your legal claims more strongly than official findings.
You have the right to examine wreckage and other physical evidence through proper legal channels. Discovery in civil litigation can compel defendants to produce evidence and testimony. Preserving your litigation rights preserves your access to evidence that might otherwise be lost or destroyed.
Your Right to Privacy
The chaos following aviation accidents often includes intense media attention. You have no obligation to speak with reporters or to allow media access to your family. Airlines cannot require you to participate in media events or to make public statements as a condition of receiving benefits or information.
Medical records generated during treatment following accidents are protected by privacy laws. Airlines and insurers cannot access these records without your authorization. Be cautious about signing authorizations—they should be limited in scope to what is actually needed, not open-ended permissions to access all medical history.
Your Right to Time
Statutes of limitations eventually limit claims, but you generally have months or years, not days or weeks, to make decisions about legal action. The pressure to make immediate decisions typically comes from defendants who benefit from quick, cheap settlements—not from legal requirements.
Taking time to grieve, to heal, and to understand your situation before making legal decisions is appropriate and protected. Rushing decisions while traumatized rarely produces good outcomes. Your rights will exist tomorrow; there is almost never a legitimate reason to sign anything immediately.
Protecting Your Rights
Document everything related to the accident and its aftermath. Keep copies of all communications from the airline, any documents you sign, medical records, and expense receipts. This documentation protects your rights and supports any future claims.
Be cautious about social media. Statements you make publicly—even casual posts—can be used against you in litigation. Consider limiting social media activity until you have consulted with an attorney about what is safe to share.
Consulting an aviation attorney promptly helps you understand your specific rights given the circumstances of your accident. Initial consultations are typically free, and attorneys can advise you on immediate concerns without committing you to filing suit.