Child Injury Lawyer Blog
By Steven Smith, Attorney David Wolf, Attorney
Published by Child Injury Lawyer Network
Only in New York can you be sitting in your office, looking out of the 35th floor window and see a jet airliner landing in the icy water below. That happened in New York recently when an airplane, headed for North Carolina hit a flock of birds, damaging both engines and yet landed safely in the Hudson River next to New York City on January 15, 2009. On board were 155 passengers, including children and a little baby. It was called a miracle that the pilot, who had many years of experience, was able to make the split second decision to land the plane in the water and no one got seriously hurt. Some people took charge inside of the plane, few panicked, and in the end, all most ended up standing on the wings on the plane, or close by in the water, waiting to be saved. This truly was a disaster in the making, but the cool heads of the pilot and crew in the air and many passengers on the ground (in the water) made this a happy ending. Serious injuries were avoided because the passengers listened to the safety instructions and prepared for the bumpy landing. In fact, the baby was held, at the time of the accident, by the person in the next seat, because the mother was afraid to do so and the father of the baby was several rows back. The baby was safe—and ready for the next flight! You can read about this story at Miracle on the Hudson.
In Connecticut, a family went snow tubing at a recreational facility. In order to use the snow tubing area, the business / recreational facility required the family to sign liability waivers which purported to release the snow tubing recreational facility from liability even if there was negligence on the part of the facility. The family went snow tubing that day and a child was injured when his foot got caught between the snow tube and a man made bank. The parents sued on behalf of the child who had a number of surgeries due to the personal injuries sustained during the snow tubing outing. The trial court threw out the case and this ruling was appealed and ultimately reached the Connecticut Supreme Court. The justices on the Supreme Court reversed the trial judge’s ruling and ruled that the liability waiver was invalid and against public policy for the State of Connecticut.
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In Tacoma, Washington, a 6 year old boy -Sebastian Hizey – died when parts from a red monster truck came flying into the stand and hit the little boy. Another spectator was injured as well. The monster truck was spinning around doing donuts when parts flew 30 to 50 feet beyond and over safety barriers into the stands.