Aviation Law

Services

How We Can Help

Aviation disputes are complex, they require lawyers who can draw on their extensive experience to quickly assess risk.

We work closely with local adjusters and respected experts to assess the legal risks faced by underwriters and operators. We then provide an efficient and effective plan that best suits client needs.

Services

• Passenger claims including loss of life, loss of property and bodily injury
• Major claims such as total loss of aircraft, hull damage and fire damage
• Transportation Safety Board of Canada hearings
• Equipment damage claims
• Lease negotiations
• Product liability for parts and equipment such as propellers, rotors, tires and finely-engineered instruments
• Representation before the Transportation Appeal Tribunal of Canada
  
• Representation at Coroners' Inquests
• Enforcement of foreign letters rogatory
• Equipment damage claims

Typical situations that our aviation lawyers might assist with:

• A helicopter filled with tourists crashes on a sunny summer day, landing in a residential area. Lives are lost, passengers are permanently hurt. and a business goes bankrupt.
• A small regional airport is sued by the owner of a private jet, whose plane tires are damaged by poor runway conditions.
• An airline loses track of a passenger's dog for six hours.  The pet finally arrives, but is severely dehydrated and in need of veterinary help. The story hits the media, and the passenger sues the airline.

Our aviation lawyers are members of:

• Air Transportation Association of Canada - ATAC
• Helicopter Association of Canada - HAC
• Aviation Insurance Association - AIA
• Canadian Bar Association - BC Branch, Air Law Subsection
• Helicopter Association International - HAI
  

Innovation

Select Harper Grey Cases

• Provided counsel for a defendant at the mediations of several bodily injury and wrongful death actions that resulted from a tragic hot air balloon disaster. This was the first case in Canada to arise out of a propane explosion in a hot air balloon.
• Provided counsel in several actions that arose after an aircraft crashed upon takeoff from one of British Columbia's Gulf Islands
  
• Provided counsel for a third party supplier in a products liability action that resulted from a heli-logging accident and involved metallurgical analysis
  
• Successfully defended an operator in a lease dispute with an aircraft owner
• On behalf of a creditor, negotiated the return of a helicopter that was flown across the US-Canada border and allegedly used in criminal activity. Harper Grey worked with a TAGLaw affiliate firm in Dallas, Texas in the negotiations.
• Currently providing opinions regarding coverage and or discharge matters for aviation underwriters
• Currently negotiating various claims on behalf of major airport operators in British Columbia
• Currently negotiating various claims for minor injury and property damage on behalf of airlines and their insurers

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