Following Turbulence Incident, AAIU Issues New Safety Recommendations

The aviation accident attorneys at the Bohrer & Lukeman law firm are reviewing new safety recommendations issued by the Air Accident Investigation Unit (AAIU) of the Department of Transport, Tourism & Sport. The new recommendations come following a comprehensive review of an October 2013 incident in which 15 passengers and crew were injured on United Airlines Flight 23.

On October 20, 2013, a United Airlines Boeing 757-200 en route from Newark, NJ to Dublin, Ireland encountered severe turbulence, sending many passengers and flight attendants crashing into the ceiling. Several passengers were injured during the incident and one had to be transported to the hospital for treatment.

“We hit a pretty bad downdraft and we have some passengers hurt so we need some ambulances to meet the flight,” the pilot said to air traffic control after encountering the rough air. Later, the co-pilot added, “It might be as many as six or seven people so might need a couple of ambulances.”

According to the AAIU report, the co-pilot believed the plane was beginning to stall because of a false air speed indicator and twice put the plane into a dive to recover airspeed. The false airspeed indicator reading was the result of icing on the pilot tube. The plane eventually recovered and continued to land safely in Dublin.

The AAIU report revealed that the aircraft “sustained significant damage” as a result of the turbulence incident. Furthermore, an AAIU analysis of the flight data recorders revealed that the aircraft had exceeded its maximum certified airspeed by 30 knots during the episode.

The AAIU investigation concluded that the United Airlines crew responded in a “non-standard” way to the airspeed warning.

Overall, the report makes eight different recommendations to United Airlines including changes to flight crew training. Similarly, the report makes recommendations to Boeing and the Federal Aviation Authority regarding the technical problems that resulted in the false instrument readings.

The aviation accident and airline injury attorneys at Bohrer & Lukeman have been retained in connection with the United Airlines flight. The flight injury lawyers have filed a lawsuit in New Jersey federal court and are litigating the claims of two passengers that suffered injuries aboard Flight 23.

Bohrer & Lukeman is an aviation accident and injury law firm. The firm has offices in both New York and New Jersey. The airline injury law firm’s founder, Abram Bohrer, has nearly 25 years of experience and vast knowledge of aviation accident law.

Bohrer has successfully represented victims of air disasters, in-flight accidents, and general aviation crashes from around the world. The law firm is following each and every update regarding this turbulence case.

For more information about airline flight accidents and updates regarding the United Airlines Flight 23 incident, be sure to visit www.flightinjury.com.