Injured Victims and Lawyers Calling Doug Landau for Help with Their Dulles Airport Mobile Lounge, People Mover and Runway Ground Transportation Accident Cases

The people movers that convey passengers from the Washington Dulles International Airport (“IAD”) terminal to the midfield gates, also known as “mobile lounges,” are some of the largest wheel-based vehicles on the planet. Nevertheless, they are subject to the “rules of the road” on the busy international airport’s Air Operations Area (“AOA”) and runways. When drivers fail to follow the law, drive safely and pay attention, permanent injuries can result

The ABRAMS LANDAU airport injury team has been called by injured victims, family members and even lawyers from around the country as the result of Dulles Airport mobile Lounge, people mover and runway ground transportation accident cases because Doug Landau has been helping travelers injured at Washington Dulles International Airport (“IAD”) and Reagan National Airport (“DCA”) for decades and has achieved remarkable results in court, Mediation and by settlement. Because Doug Landau has represented travelers, airport workers and airline employees in their Workers Compensation AND personal injury cases, he has unique access to information about the inner workings of the airports, the procedures employed by the airlines and the resources of the Airports Authorities. As an authority on people mover, mobile lounge and airport ground transportation cases, Doug Landau was a presenter at the national trial lawyers convention in Miami, Florida. At the Association For Justice annual Continuing Legal Education program at the famous Fountainbleau, lawyer Landau taught lawyers from all over the United States, Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom and elsewhere on the toipic of air traveler injuries.

“Walking the walk” – Prior Record Verdict for Dulles Airport Injury

Dulles Airport people movers have a definite “pecking order.” There are rules as to when they have to yield the right of way to other mobile lounges, busses, shuttle vans and MWAA carts, as well as procedures when a jet is coming into or out of a gate.

In fact, as far back as the 1995 case of Reese v. Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (or “MWAA”), 37 Va.Cir.330, E 1104, Doug Landau was part of the team that achieved a record jury verdict in the Loudoun County Virginia Circuit Court. The case involved a senior flight attendant who was injured while riding with the rest of the flight crew on a Dulles Airport people mover, also called a “mobile lounge.” This middle aged woman was sitting in her seat when, without any warning, she and others were ejected. The driver had played “chicken” with another midfield bus driver, and run over a piece of 8 x 8 construction wood that narrowed the passage to and from the midfield terminals. The “Rules of the Road” for the runways and other “Air Operations Areas” (“AOAs”) require INBOUND mobile lounges give right of way to the OUTBOUND people movers, since the OUTBOUND transport vehicles are trying to make their flights.

Landau’s client sustained permanent neck injuries and underwent a multilevel cervical spine surgery. While this smart, attractive, experienced flight attendant returned to work only several months after surgery, she had permanent neurological deficits. Because a settlement could not be achieved commensurate with the level of injuries sustained by the innocent passenger, a lawsuit was filed in Leesburg, requesting a jury trial. That is because Dulles Airport actually sits partially in Loudoun County, and lawsuits are often required to be initiated in the place where the injury occurred or where the Defendant is found. Lawyer Landau helped develop overwhelming evidence of the driver’s negligence and the Airport Authority’s failure to follow its own rules. The driver had several “priors” on the roads around the runways, including bending a probe on his vehicle, hitting a jet and other unsafe conduct. Nevertheless, this negligent airport authority driver got a raise and a bonus every year prior to the incident that injured Landau’s Texas client! The Circuit Court of Loudoun County, sitting in Leesburg, Virginia, rule that the injured passenger could not get punitive damages against the Airport Authority, as it was a “quasi governmental authority.”

In addition to the “mobile lounges” at Dulles Airport, there are large busses, smaller burettes, vans and shuttles to ferry passengers from the terminal to the gate, and between gates. The runways and Air Operations Area are very busy and transport drivers must exercise care when conveying travelers around the airport. However, at the international airports, you cannot hire your own limousine or Lyft to take you directly to your commercial aircraft! You MUST take the mode of transportation provided any the airport authority.

The case went to Mediation, where the injured flight attendant’s team turned down the $250,000 lump sum settlement offer recommended by an Arlington Circuit Court judge. So Landau and the Texas team went to trial. The Dulles Airport authority admitted liability (fault) prior to trial. The Plaintiff’s trial team engaged a local lawyer, as Landau has done in other cases, to assist with picking the jury.  At the end of the hard fought, multi-day trial, the jury in the Leesburg courthouse came back with a verdict in favor of the injured airport traveler for $514,000.00, a record for the Loudoun County Circuit Court!  Landau’s client was thrilled, as she had already had her bills and lost wages covered by the Texas Workers Comp system.

Since the Reese v. MWAA case, Doug Landau has represented many airline pilots, flight attendants, ramp workers, mechanics and reservationists, as well as Airport employees, contractors, subcontractors and delivery people. And of course, the ABRAMS LANDAU team has helped many travelers, who are on the Dulles or National Airport premises for business or pleasure (or sometimes both!) when they have been injured through no fault of their own.

Because he is frequently involved in helping injured travelers, airline personnel and airport works, Doug Landau is expecting to see himself pictured as a “centerfold” in the Fly Washington magazine!

With actual case trial, Mediation, settlement experience and acknowledged authority in the field (AND on the air fields!), the airport injury team at ABRAMS LANDAU is currently helping victims of the recent Dulles Airport people mover gate crash, as well as fielding question from other law firms who do not regularly appear in this “airspace!” Doug Landau declined to represent some of the victims who had minimal treatment or whose cases did not meet the ABRAMS LANDAU criteria for taking the matter to trial. Lawyer Landau was surprised by how many firms advertise and pretend to be “experts” in this specialized area of law, since there are unique rules to incidents occurring on the Air Operations Area, and investigations are conducted NOT by the local County, City or State Police, but by the Airport Authority’s OWN captive Police Department and Emergency Rescue Personnel!!! In fact, of all the law firms pretending to know how to handle these kinds of complex, often multistate cases, Doug Landau is the only attorney in the DC Metropolitan area who has: met with the MWAA Risk Management Department senior staff, inside and outside legal counsel on multiple occasions, regularly reviews surveillance video with MWAA personnel, met with MWAA Defense counsel in person and actually tried cases against them AND successful Mediated with them, recovering millions of dollars for his clients..

The Dulles Airport people movers are identified by 2 letter state abbreviations. This makes it easier for the air traffic controllers, ground crew and jet cockpit teams to identify them so as to avoid “close calls,” unsafe driving and crashes. Doug Landau looks forward to the day when these enormous wheeled vehicles are “retired,” and travelers, airport staff, airline employees and other workers on the runways can travel safely underground via trains and walkways.

So if you, or someone you care about, has been injured at Washington Dulles International Airport, Reagan National Airport, or another commercial or private airport, in a people mover, mobile lounge, ground transportation or inter-terminal shuttle accident, and there are questions about the law, your rights and what not to do, please reach out to the authority in airport injury and runway transportation injuries and call us at once. There are strict legal deadlines in these aviation injury cases, and you do not want a lawyer who only occasionally handles these kinds of cases. Plus, if any part of the trip involved international travel, then special treaties and laws can apply. Experience counts, and having regular access to the airports is critically important to success in these complex, often multistate cases.