Missouri Personal Injury Lawyer Blog

A small aircraft that crash-landed at Cape Girardeau Regional Airport recently left the plane’s pilot and a journalist who was riding along with minor injuries, according to an article in the Southeast Missourian.

The reporter, who covers entertainment news for The Missourian, was on the plane to gather notes for an article on small aircraft flights. According to witnesses, the plane was making a low pass-by of the airport when it continued to lose altitude. It eventually landed belly-up in the grass near the runway, skidding some distance and making a full turn before coming to a stop.

The two men in the plane were able to walk away from the accident, although they were checked out at a local hospital before going home. Meanwhile, fire crews made sure that a leak in the plane’s oil line did not spread or cause a fire.

Continue reading "Missouri Airplane Crash Leaves Pilot, Journalist with Minor Injuries" »

A new government-funded study shows that drug tests of airline employees are three times more likely to come back positive after a crash than when testing is done at random times, according to Reuters. The study proves that drug violations by employees are connected with the risk of aviation accidents.

The study examined almost 5,000 drug tests taken by employees after accidents from 1995 to 2005. Those results were compared to more than a million random drug tests. After an aviation accident, about 18 out of 1,000 employees tested positive, whereas random testing found only six out of every 1,000 tested positive.

The good news is that results show that drug use among the flight crew is very rare. Only five out of every 10,000 random tests turned up positive. After accidents, less than five tests out of every 1,000 were positive for illegal drug use. The study concluded that one out of every 100 aviation accidents may be attributable to illegal drugs.

The study’s author believes that the very low rates of drug use in the airline industry are partially attributable to the random drug testing programs of the airlines. The authors of the study noted that some illegal drugs can be detected days or weeks after use, so just because an employee tested positive doesn’t mean the drugs were taken on the day of the accident.

Airlines and private pilots have a responsibility to keep their passengers safe. If airline personnel use illegal drugs, airlines can be held responsible for any injuries or damages caused by those actions. If you have been injured in a plane crash in Missouri, contact Missouri aviation accident attorney John Page at Page Law. Call today at 314-322-8515 to learn more.

A small airplane crashed in Springfield, tragically killing one woman and seriously injuring another, according to KY3.com.

The Missouri aviation accident occurred during landing. Witnesses saw the plane touch down and then begin another pass, but then hit the ground. The plane was immediately engulfed in flames. Witnesses were able to pull one woman out of the plane, and the pilot was also able to escape the wreckage.

The plane, a Grumman Cheetah, has a reputation for being prone to accidents because of the lack of power to climb, particularly if the plane is overloaded. The plane that crashed was built in 1975, but according to experts the age of an airplane does not make a difference in safety, as long as it is properly maintained. Investigators for the FAA and NTSB studied the crash site following the accident. However, it will most likely take months for a report detailing what happened in the crash to be released.

The pilot was released from the hospital the day after the accident. One passenger remains in serious condition in the hospital’s burn unit.

Continue reading "Missouri Plane Crash Kills One, Injures Another" »