After landing at Santa Monica Airport late last month, a Cessna Citation 525A jet skidded into a hangar, killing all of the passengers on the plane, and causing an enormous explosion.

First responders arrived within three minutes, but the fire spread to two other hangars and was already out of control when help arrived.  The captain of the Santa Monica fire department called the crash “unsurvivable”.  Read more.

The communities near the airport have been asking for increased runway safety at the airport for years, claiming that a large jet landing at an airport situated so close to residential neighborhoods is an accident waiting to happen.  A quote from California Representative Henry Waxman (D-Venice) sums it up: “The tragic crash … illustrates how inadequate safety measures jeopardize the surrounding community and endanger pilots and passengers.”

Airport injury lawyer Doug Landau agrees. “You are talking about endangering people’s lives.  If there is something that can be done, some change that can be made to the physical structure or the rules concerning use of the airport itself, then we owe it to the neighboring communities, the pilots and crew members, passengers, and airport workers to do what we can do,” says Doug.

If you or someone you know has been injured at an airport or on an airplane and there are questions as to what laws apply, email or call Abrams Landau, Ltd. at once (703-796-9555).