Airplane Crashes

As a small float plane crashed into Lake Lewisville while landing on the water. The plane, a single-engine plane, a 1983 Maule, is known as a float plane and was capable of landing on water. However, when the plane hit the water, it flipped upside down, killing a female passenger and seriously injuring the pilot. Witnesses said the plane had no obvious problems while they watched it fly around the lake before it crashed.

Crash investigators are looking into to pilot error as a possible cause. The question is whether the pilot mistakenly lowered the landing gear during a water landing. The wheels should never be down for a water landing, experts said, but the wheels on this plane were clearly lowered.

According to Air Crash Record Office (ACRO),

• In 2008, there were 876 reported deaths due to airplane accidents and 147 separate airplane crashes.
• The worst year for airplane crash deaths was 1972, when 3,214 people died in plane crashes.
• The safest year for plane accidents was 2007, when 766 people died in plane accidents.
• Smaller aircraft – planes that carry a handful of people – crash much more often and often lead to serious injury and death.
• Single engine planes, cargo planes, and propeller planes are involved in accidents each day.
• Half of all plane accidents are caused by pilot error. Pilot error can either be based on a pilot making a mechanical mistake while flying or on a pilot making a poor decision based on weather conditions.

If you or a loved one is injured as a result of an airplane, helicopter or other aircraft incident, contact Rachel Montes at Montes Law Group, P.C. (214) 522-9401.