Any legals? DH Fatal accident?

[BringMeSunshine48]

In 2004 my DH was killed in an aviation accident whilst working. He was co pilot. The accident was the fault of the Pilot in control. He also died.

It happened in USA. (We were out there for DH work)

I received a small payout from the company of around 10k.

I struggled as a widow financially for years after.

Recently, people have asked why I didn't claim for compensation. It's obviously too late now I guess, but the company is still operational.

I was in my 20's at the time and in a complete mess as my world imploded around me. Nobody even mentioned this was an option and I wasn't aware at the time.

Should I have received compensation more than I received?

It would have hugely helped me over the years as when I returned to the UK as I had to get a job very quickly and try and run our home alone/buy a car etc.

It's all too late now, and irrelevant, but it has left me wondering if I should have received more than I did. Does anyone else know?

I googled that one out curiosity and it seems both pilots were American and it was the fault of both of them. Another one also popped up but I can’t remember where it was in America but it was also the fault of both pilots. So must not be either of them.

it could be a death in service benefit, but I always thought that would be more. If it was compensation it would be unlikely to get more as usually if you accept the payout you forfeit the right to go back and say more. But if you want to op, I would echo others and recommend a special lawyer.

The 10k does sound like death in service benefit rather than compensation for liability.

Had you claimed on a liability basis you may well have got compensation too but the airline was hardly going to suggest that to you. It probably sat tight and counted down to limitation.

Limitation has likely long passed. (I'm a UK lawyer so not sure about US statutes but seems very unlikely a claim would still be within time. ) I presume there were no infant children of the marriage? They would have a separate right to claim and Limitation would only start running from their adulthood.

Very occasionally there are exceptions to the strict Limitation laws (again I'm talking about UK law and assuming other countries are similar) such as Limitation only running from the date knowledge of the right to claim arose. An example could be adults who only experienced a memory of childhood sex abuse in middle age (there is case law on this). But unfortunately choosing not to take independent legal advice at the time wouldn't qualify.

I'm sorry OP. It must have been such an awfully hard experience for you, both at the time and in the years afterwards.

I googled out of curiosity too, and could only find that crash in America and the ages matched.

regardless, my sympathies to the OP of course, but the nature of the crash may impact payouts.

I guess you have been; reading the daily mail today.

You’ve sorted it out now so don’t try to financially gain from your husbands death

I googled that one out curiosity and it seems both pilots were American and it was the fault of both of them. Another one also popped up but I can’t remember where it was in America but it was also the fault of both pilots. So must not be either of them.

Without wishing to comment on whatever tragic accident that led to the OP it's maybe worth being aware that these days on multi-pilot/multi-crew aircraft it's more and more about crew responsibility, the non-handling pilot doesn't get a free ride.

It's really rare to see a report for an accident involving two rated pilots on a flight deck where only one pilot shoulders absolutely all the blame and the other occupant is totally absolved; the role of the none flying pilot is to some extent that of monitoring the flying pilot and stopping the flying pilot screwing up.

Regarding the recent judgement for $100 million for plane crash - that does not mean that amount will be paid out - especially if it is a Limited Liability Company is involved or the company simply doesn't have the money - bankruptcy will be declared - so after that there wouldn't be any pay out.

Such an unnecessary comment

Sorry for your loss.

i honestly don’t know much about flying. But I read one of the crashes I mentioned the pilots were joking about and had an unsuitable attitude or words to that effect. Hence why I said it doesn’t seem to be the ops one. I don’t remember which one it was but both had pilot issues with both the pilots. But that’s besides the point now tbh. Whatever happened happened.

yeah I had thought there’s two or so pilots that are responsible for various reasons.

There is no right way to handle such loss.

You may have got more money but if it was a large organisation, it would have also meant prolonging the trauma and fighting it to the bitter end. You may have ended up much worse off with legal fees and the inability emotionally move on.

I’m so terribly sorry for your loss.

Assessing whether you might have had a claim is hard to do in retrospect. There are a lot of questions that it might not now be possible to answer. In general a company is responsible for the actions of their employees which might have meant they were responsible in this situation, but that can be affected by many variables.

I don’t know if it’s definitely too late for you to pursue a claim. In the UK you would be out of time but the laws in America are different and I don’t know what the time limits are. You could look into this. Any litigation would be very expensive, however - something to consider.

It sounds like you made the best decisions available to you at the time. Don’t beat yourself up about the choices you made under incredible duress. You did the best you could with the knowledge you had at the time.

What a foul comment. She’s not trying to financially gain. She’s wondering if she should have been compensated for the significant financial loss (not to mention emotional trauma and grief) she experienced as a result of his death.

No words

@Doggonames

Hence why I said it doesn’t seem to be the ops one. I don’t remember which one it was but both had pilot issues with both the pilots. But that’s besides the point now tbh. Whatever happened happened.

Understood and agreed...I think the important thing to be aware of, if people are maybe trying to compare this with the helicopter legal case, is that a rated, qualified, "co-pilot"/"first officer" actually at work in the cockpit doesn't have the same status as a passenger simply because he's not the one actually handling the aircraft.

As for comp, very much one for a specialist attorney/lawyer...

Are you entitled to any sort of widows pension from the company

There's always one isn't there?

And as others have said you should be proud of how you've come through this traumatic event OP.

What has triggered this need to know?

@BringMeSunshine48

In 2004 my DH was killed in an aviation accident whilst working. He was co pilot. The accident was the fault of the Pilot in control. He also died.

If this was an 'on the job' accident, meaning that it occurred during duty hours in the performance of his duties, then it should have been covered under his employers' Worker's Compensation Insurance policy IF he was working for an American company. State laws vary and you would need to speak to a specialist work comp attorney who is licensed in the state where the accident occurred. I worked 'in a general way' with work comp settlements but not in a 'legal way'. I believe there is a deadline for filing WC claims, but it may vary by state. Where I live it's 12 months. Whether or not you could file to reopen alleging undue duress or misrepresentation I don't know, but an attorney would. There are some settlements that are 'final' and some that allow for reopening, but usually only for 'future medical' for the injured worker. Just google 'Worker's Comp attorneys in <State>'. But be aware that for every decent WC attorney there are probably 3 shysters out there, so check reviews carefully.

IMHO getting $10k for a work-related fatality is unheard of, unless there was some mitigating factor or a really dishonest employer or carrier. Death on the job WC settlements are usually MUCH higher as they involve calculating the loss of the deceased worker's future lifetime earnings to the family. If this was a worker's comp payout you should have gotten some paperwork detailing how the amount was calculated but being as it was going on 20 years ago, you probably don't have it anymore. If you do, it should have come from an insurance company and will have the employer's name shown as 'the insured' or it may show 'self insured'. It should specify that it is a work comp payment/settlement.

As far as a non-work accident, again you'd need to speak to an attorney licensed in the state where the accident occurred. Deadlines vary by state law.

Not true. Insurance is compulsory. Insurers are in control of claims from the moment the accident occurs. They have deep pockets.

Human error can arise because of design faults in the plane, and because of inadequate training. (I watch a lot of Air Crash Investigation.)

The accident was in New York and was the co-pilots error resulting in the death of himself and my husband. He was 29 😔 I took the call from ATC as I worked in the office and they didn't know it was my husband onboard.

Interesting.

How appalling for you, I am very sorry for your loss