Airplane Maintenance Negligence: Your Rights

Making Sure the Truth Doesn’t Get Buried

Airplane safety lives and dies in the hangar. If someone rushes a checklist, signs off without looking, or patches a problem that needed a real fix, you pay the price. 

If that sounds like your story, you deserve more than an apology. You deserve accountability and a plan that moves. Our personal injury attorneys at Horn Wright, LLP, handle aviation cases across New York—from JFK and LaGuardia to Albany International—and we also serve New Jersey, New Hampshire, Vermont, and Maine. 

Laws and deadlines change as you cross borders, so strategy has to change too. Whether your case involves a commercial jet, a charter, or a private plane, we know how maintenance failures happen and how to prove them. 

If you want straight talk now, call (855) 465-4622 for a focused review and next steps built around you. When corners were cut, we make sure those choices do not hide behind industry jargon or corporate walls.

How Negligent Maintenance Causes Aviation Accidents

Airplanes are designed with backups on top of backups. 

One problem is not supposed to bring a flight down. But when checks are skipped and small issues stack up, the safety net tears. That is negligence.

In New York, Civil Practice Law & Rules Section 214(5) lets you recover when carelessness causes injury. That duty of care reaches the hangar floor just as much as the cockpit.

Proving it means building a clean timeline: what was fixed, who signed off, which procedures applied, and whether they met Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) standards. 

A missing entry or altered record can become the anchor of your case.

Red Flags That Point to Poor Maintenance

You should not have to guess whether maintenance played a role. These signs show up again and again:

• Gaps or inconsistencies in inspection records. Every repair and test must be documented. Missing or sloppy entries scream noncompliance. We subpoena the source files fast so nothing “goes missing.”
• Repeat write-ups for the same issue. If crews kept reporting the problem and it kept flying, that is a pattern. Repetition plus inaction equals risk, and risk creates liability.
• Unapproved or counterfeit parts. Cheap parts look good on paper until they fail. Once installed, they can break rules, void warranties, and pull suppliers into the case.
• Deferred repairs labeled “non-critical.” Delay can be reasonable, but small problems grow up. If a deferral fed into the failure chain, that is negligence in plain view.

Who Can Be Held Liable for Maintenance Negligence

Real aviation cases rarely point to a single person. Under New York’s comparative fault rules (CPLR Article 14-A), responsibility can be shared across everyone who contributed:

• Maintenance contractors and mechanics. If inspections were skipped, records were falsified, or parts were misused, they can be held directly accountable.
• Airlines and aircraft owners. Outsourcing does not erase duty. Bad policies, thin staffing, and weak supervision create the conditions for failure.
• Parts manufacturers and distributors. Defective components or unclear instructions bring product liability into play alongside negligence.
• Other oversight actors. On certain facts, private entities performing regulatory functions can face exposure for failures in their role.

How We Prove Maintenance Failures

Paper plus physics. That is how you win a maintenance case and why speed matters.

• Preserve the aircraft and the parts. We send hold letters and move for preservation orders so components are not altered or scrapped.
• Audit the maintenance trail. Line by line, we compare logs, work cards, and airworthiness directives. Flight data fills the gaps the paperwork leaves.
• Bring in the right experts. Aviation engineers, human-factors pros, and former FAA inspectors translate complex systems into clean, convincing proof.
• Build the timeline. From last sign-off to the failure sequence, we map cause to effect so a judge or jury can see it without guesswork.

Compensation You Can Recover

Accountability should cover the whole cost of what you are living with now and later:

• Medical care today and tomorrow. Hospital stays, surgeries, rehab, meds—and the future care plan that protects you from being underpaid later.
• Lost wages and earning power. Missed paychecks, delayed promotions, and long-term career impact belong in your numbers. Economists help nail it down.
• Pain, suffering, and life disruption. Aviation trauma is physical and emotional. New York recognizes non-economic losses that reshape daily life.
• Wrongful death benefits. Under Estates, Powers, and Trusts Law Article 5-4.1, families can recover for funeral costs, financial support, and household services when a crash takes a life.

The Role of Federal and State Law

Aviation cases sit where federal regulations and state negligence law meet. The FAA sets the safety floor. States control how you prove fault and what you can recover.

In New York, CPLR Section 214(5) sets the general injury deadline, and EPTL Section 5-4.1 controls wrongful death timing. 

Cross into New Jersey, New Hampshire, Vermont, or Maine and the rules shift—comparative negligence standards, damages rules, and timelines change your strategy. 

Multi-state experience lets us choose the right forum and protect every deadline.

Why Quick Action Makes All the Difference

Evidence in aviation cases does not wait. 

Parts get recycled. Logs get archived. Witnesses move. Acting early lets us lock in records, coordinate with National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) proceedings, and build momentum before doors close.

At Horn Wright, LLP, our aviation and airplane accident attorneys do not sit back and hope. We request the data, contact the experts, and file what needs filing.

Every day we wait is a day the evidence fades.

Standing Up for Safety After Maintenance Negligence

Every skipped inspection and every rushed sign-off is a choice. Your case turns those choices into accountability and into the resources you need to heal and rebuild.

We are proud of the recognition we have earned for results and client care. When you are ready, call (855) 465-4622. 

We will uncover what went wrong, protect your rights, and push for full compensation because your safety in the air starts with real responsibility on the ground.