Oklahoma Plane Crashes

Very few people believe they will survive a plane crash. Most air travelers believe that that plane crashes mean instant death to all aboard, and they ignore airline safety instructions for that reason.

The Hershewe Law Firm, P. C., Oklahoma aviation attorneys, want you to know that these public attitudes toward plane crashes are based on little more than superstition and misinformation.

In fact, according to George Bibel, a professor of mechanical engineering at the University of North Dakota, in any airplane accident, passengers are five times more likely to survive than to die. That is why listening carefully to the stewards or stewardesses as they explain unique safety procedures for the particular plane you are flying on is crucial to avoiding unnecessary plane crash injury and death.

Bibel reports that in 23 of the 27 DC-10 airplanes destroyed in accidents, 90% of the passengers have survived. But you do not need statistics to tell you that you can survive an aviation accident if you are aware of safety protocols. All you need to do is remember the recent crashes at Heathrow (a Boeing 777 crash-landed, tearing off the landing gear and damaging the airplane beyond repair. Yet there were only 13 minor injuries among the 152 passengers) or in the :Miracle on the Hudson River” in New York City (a U.S. Air jetliner lost both engines and crash-landed in the river, but despite freezing weather, all 155 people on board were evacuated quickly and with minimum injury.) Modern aircraft can even hold together after blast damage that punctures the skin of the plane. Remember the 737 flying over Hawaii that landed safely even after an explosive decompression caused by metal fatigue ripped an 18-by-14-foot hole in the top of the first-class section? One flight attendant –who was not buckled into a seat-- was lost in the decompression.

Flight attendants will tell you that the most important thing you can do to ensure your safety from accidental injury or death is to buckle your seatbelt. Also crucially important is to listen and understand procedures for evacuation of a plane. The biggest danger in any plane crash is fire because of the fuel and the hot engines. The Hershewe aviation accident lawyers know that if a plane makes an emergency landing or crashes, it is critical to get out of the plane as soon as possible. A fire is a real possibility, as fuel may leak and may ignite.

We advise you that as long as you do not panic, passengers can get off an aircraft with amazing speed. When certifying the design of a new aircraft, the Federal Aviation Administration requires that it be possible to evacuate the plane within 90 seconds even with unrehearsed passengers and half the exits blocked.

When you take a commercial flight, on a large aircraft or in a small plane, you have so little control over the flight that you feel vulnerable. But simply by listening carefully and observing, you will have the tools necessary for your safety.

You also have all the help necessary if you are seriously injured or if a loved one is wrongfully killed in a plane crash. The Hershewe Law Firm, P.C., has a good reputation for vigorous, fair, knowledgeable and compassionate action to protect families who have been innocent victims of catastrophic injury or wrongful death in aviation disasters. Our aviation law attorneys are plane crash experts who will win your respect, confidence and friendship.

Contact The Hershewe Law Firm toll-free at 877-382-9734, or complete our web form.