26-Jan-2014 Source: Irwin Mitchell
Specialist aviation lawyers acting for injured victims and families who lost loved ones in the Clutha helicopter tragedy in Glasgow in November have welcomed Bond Aviation Group’s admission of liability in relation to the incident, but warned much more needs to be done to improve helicopter safety.
Irwin Mitchell’s Aviation Law team, ranked as one of the leading practices in its field in the UK by independent legal directories, is continuing its work to ensure its clients gain justice and also vital support which will help them in their continued recovery from the incident.
As well as receiving an admission of liability from Bond Aviation Group, the owner and operator of the helicopter involved, the lawyers have also secured vital funding which will allow its clients to receive counselling from next week.
Irwin Mitchell has vast experience in aviation cases and, as well as representing victims of the Clutha tragedy, the firm also acts for those affected by helicopter crashes such as the Eurocopter crashes off the coast of Shetland in August 2013 and in the North Sea in October 2012.
Elaine Russell As well as securing interim payments for our clients since receiving admission of liability from Bond last week, we have put an agreement in place with the company which will allow our clients to access specialist counselling and rehabilitation support as they continue to come to terms with the huge psychological trauma they have struggled with since the tragedy. The first counselling sessions for our clients to discuss their experiences will begin next week.
“However, there is still much more work to be done to ensure that the key issues raised by this terrible tragedy and other helicopter crashes in recent years are addressed. One of our concerns remains that the fitting of “black box” flight data recorders and cockpit voice recorders should become standard on a wider number of passenger-carrying helicopters in the UK.
“Such a move will not only lead to more information being available on tragedies of this nature, but also play a key role in ensuring lessons can be learned and more done to improve helicopter safety in general.
“We are continuing to campaign on this point and are determined that this issue will be seriously considered by authorities.”
HeliHub.com asked Bond for a response to the above, and they said..
Since the terrible tragedy at the Clutha, we have been working with Glasgow City Council and other parties to see how bereaved families and the local community can best be supported.
In December we established and publicised two helpline numbers (free from both landlines and mobile phones) on 0800 1388 544 or 01623 786 808.
While the causes of the tragedy remain unknown, we confirmed from the outset that we were committed to ensuring proper compensation was paid to all of those who have suffered loss as a result of the accident.
We will continue to ensure that issues raised by anyone who calls the helpline are dealt with as soon as practicably possible.
Most claims should be capable of being settled without delay however, for complex claims which may take longer to resolve, and where appropriate, we will make interim payments without the need for each party to apply to the Court.