Aviation Law

CFM Lawyers represents victims of aviation accidents in Canada and internationally. We have experience in all facets of aviation accident litigation including claims against domestic carriers, claims involving international carriage under the Warsaw and Montreal Convention, mid-air collisions, air traffic control negligence and catastrophic failures of complex aircraft components such as turbine blades, main rotor blade, fuel control units and hydraulic control systems.

Our success in this area has been built on decades of careful, detailed investigation of the root causes of aviation cases. We understand aircraft technology and work closely with leading experts in failure analysis, aeronautical engineering, human factors, air navigation systems and aviation safety to examine all aspects of an accident.

Within Canada, the firm has successfully litigated claims on behalf of pilots and passengers injured or killed in aviation accidents. The cases have been brought in the courts of British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario, Nunavut, Yukon, Saskatchewan, Newfoundland and Labrador and Northwest Territories. Internationally, the firm has teamed with lawyers in the United States on many occasions to represent Canadian victims of aircraft accidents arising from the failure of US manufactured aircraft or aircraft components. The firm has also acted in conjunction with lawyers from other jurisdictions to represent victims of aviation accidents in France, Switzerland, and New Caledonia and has handled cases arising from accidents in Mexico, West Africa, Sudan, Papau New Guinea and the Republic of the Maldives.

We support our clients in advocating for improvements in aviation safety. Our clients often want to ensure that the lessons learned from an accident are used to improve aviation safety and prevent future accidents. We believe that lawsuits can be a powerful instrument for change. In addition to pursuing legal action, we often advocate for improvements in aviation safety by writing submissions to the investigative body, to the regulatory authorities and by participating in coroner’s inquests.

Air carrier experience

CFM has acted for passengers in claims against air carriers including:

• Air Canada & Air Ontario
• Air France
• Air Transat
• Aquila Air
• Cathay Pacific
• First Air
• Malaysia Airlines
• Sonic Blue / Regency Express
• Sunshine Coast Air Services
• Waglisa Air

Aerospace manufacturer experience

CFM has acted on product liability claims against the following aerospace manufacturers:

• Airbus
• Allied Signal, Inc (Bendix), (fuel control units)
• Allison Gas Turbines (Rolls-Royce)
• Bell Helicopter Textron
• Boeing
• Cessna
• Enstrom
• Eurocopter (Aerospatiale)
• General Electric (Gas Turbine Engines)
• Honeywell (various components including fuel control units)
• Howmet
• McDonnell Douglas Helicopters
• Pratt & Whitney Canada
• Robinson
• Rolls Royce
• Sikorsky Helicopters
• Textron Lycoming (Gas Turbine Engines and other components)
• United Technology Corporation

Aviation product liability experience

CFM handles complex claims arising from failures of aircraft components and systems such as:

• Engine failures (both piston and turbine)
• Failures of compressor turbine and power turbine blades in gas turbine engines resulting from casting, machining and other defects
• Failure of helicopter transmissions including input freewheel units
• Structural failure of fuselage components including helicopter tail booms
• Delamination of main rotor blades
• Main rotor blade grip failures
• Malfunctions and failures of fuel control units
• Fuel oil heater failures
• In-flight break ups
• Inadequate crashworthiness design
• S-92 Helicopter crash
• Enstrom
• Air France Class Action: Flight 358- Passengers and Family Members
• Howmet
• Pratt & Whitney Canada

Notable cases in this field include:

Click here to review a selection of our reported judgments in the field of aviation accidents.