Wintertime in many parts of the US raises potential problems for pilots of small airplanes as well as airline pilots. Ice can wreak havoc on any airplane, causing the engine to quit, or causing the wing to stop producing lift.
Why would an engine quit because of ice? It can freeze up the carburetor or block the air source for the engine. What does ice do to a wing? Ice destroys the smooth flow of air over the wing, which is the foundation of all flight. Without smooth airflow on both sides of a wing, the wing will simply not carry the weight of the aircraft. As ice begins to adhere to a wing, the wing has to work harder and harder to support the airplane. Eventually the lift will stop, and the wing will stall, bringing the airplane and its passengers to grief.
Many aviation lawsuits involve issues of icing. For example, a small plane passenger who survived a plane crash with serious injuries might sue the pilot of the plane for flying into icing conditions. Similarly, an airline passenger could sue the airline if proper de-icing procedures were not followed by the airline before taking off.
But injured passengers are not the only people who can file lawsuits. The pilot of a small plane which crashes due to icing may himself have a claim against the federal government if it issued an insufficient or inaccurate weather briefing which failed to warn the pilot about the likelihood of icing conditions.
The bottom line is that if you have been injured in a plane crash, or if you have lost a loved one in a plane crash, your attorney should take a close look to see if weather conditions could have played a role in the disaster. Steps need to be taken early on to preserve weather records and pilot communications as they may be important factors in court.
