An Introduction

published by

AIR CRASH CONSULTANTS http://aircrashconsultants.com [email protected]

a division of

WRONGFUL DEATH CONSULTANTS A C ALIFORNIA CORPORATION U.S. (877) 348-0030 U.S. (818) 348-0300 Where it Begins Somewhere in the world, something goes wrong . A thrust reverser fails, a runway is wrongly paved, a hard landing leaves death and injury in its wake . A plane crashes, taking with it precious human cargo . Sometimes the plane is missing and must be located like AF447, the Air France Rio–Paris flight that disappeared over the Atlantic . Sometimes the disaster unfolds in plain sight like Tam Flight 3054, when a hundred and ninety-nine souls were lost landing on a rainy night in Sao Paulo . The disaster happens, somewhere in the world . Then Air Crash Consultants gets a phone call or email from a local lawyer . Maybe the lawyer is in South Africa, or the Comoros, or . The lawyer could be calling from anywhere, but one thing remains consistent . The families of the plane crash decedents want this lawyer’s help; and the lawyer wants the help of Air Crash Consultants, and sometimes the help of at - torneys who consult George .

George at Air Crash Consultants is not a lawyer . Not an attorney broker . Not an agent . But he has been working with lawyers all over the world for forty-five years . Like accident victims and interna - tional wrongful death cases they represent, lawyers George networks with can be anywhere, while at - torneys who consult George are mostly in the United States . George normally begins a case after local lawyers in Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia, anywhere, request his expertise . Decedent's families and their lawyers confer with George after plane crashes . Air Crash Consultants guides families in di - verse areas, such as helping Air Crash Victims families groups so the bereaved can console each other, and work together to get things done .

The attorneys who consult George handle a great number of cases and are well-known . Insurance carriers have experienced just how aggressive they are many times before over a mediating table or courtroom in London and elsewhere . In many cases, the insurers will capitulate rather than meet again in court . If you retain any attorney with aviation experience, they will file lawsuits if negotiations fail to yield fair compensation . Recently in one case Air Crash Consultants was coordinating, attorneys filed a lawsuit in Florida and Venezuela . Soon after, the case settled; in another, the case was filed in Beirut, and soon after, multiple cases started to settle . To a local attorney, working with an experienced U. S. attorney with all their resources can make the difference between petty and serious compensa - tion .

Local attorneys like you who have clients from a plane crash contact Air Crash Consultants because we want your families to get the help they need to recover from the tragedy of losing a loved one . After all this, if you’re wondering who George is, turn the page .

* The firm that families retain will pay Air Crash Consultants, not the families themselves. ** Each family and their attorneys decide which lawyer will lead their representation.

Air Crash Consultants | [email protected] |U.S. (877) 348-0030 | U.S. (818) 348-0300 | http://aircrashconsultants.com About George and Air Crash Consultants

Meet George. Some of the most important law firms in the United States consult with George Hatcher to coordinate their in - ternational Aviation cases. He has the heart to relate to clients after the unthinkable happens, and experience coping with is - sues that turn up. George is not a lawyer, but as a strategist for lawyers, he has spent most of his life bridging the gap between attorneys, countries and clients.

This version of the brochure is a bit of an experiment, directed, as it is, toward lawyers and their clients who have contacted us. This brochure is still exclusively about aviation issues, but George (President of Air Crash Consultants) isn't. In the forty- five years he's been consulting, he's worked on every type of case you can imagine and some you can't*. Small cases, huge cases, wrongful death cases, product liability cases, pharmaceutical cases, train crashes, bus crashes, ship injuries, and many others, including of course, aviation cases. An aviation case is essentially a wrongful death case; aviation cases are also product liability cases, where failed products that contributed to the crash are held accountable.

If you're looking for help with an aviation matter, this is the right place. An aviation lawyer may be able to help, and if there’s anybody who knows and relies on George, it’s aviation lawyers. Plane crash cases are complicated. Depending on where the plane was going, if it was a national or international flight determines what laws and treaties apply. The official investi - gation of the incident or crash is long and grueling as investigators attempt to determine if the crash involves defective design or materials, or instrument failure, negligent maintenance or repair, air traffic control error, , icing, fuel mismanagement, or ground crew failures, or any of a hundred other possibilities. While the official investigation is to determine what happened so it can be prevented, it reveals the facts. Lawyers will pursue the facts, because facts determine who is responsible. Having the best representation possible means aviation lawyers who are experts in fighting for com - pensation and accountability fighting on behalf of victims and their families against the aviation industry. It means lawyers doing what they do best, and holding parties responsible for the disaster accountable for their negligence or failure. George consults with the best aviation lawyers and superlawyers in the USA and the world. Lawyers with proven skills and experience in representing victims of aviation accidents. Lawyers, whether in a courtroom or settling across a negotiating table.

What else does Air Crash Consultants do? It coordinates...

* Air France Flight 447 George was requested to interview more than fifty families of decedents. ** Tam Flight 3054 (Brazil) George was requested to interview more than 125 families of decedents.. Air Crash Consultants | [email protected] |U.S. (877) 348-0030 | U.S. (818) 348-0300 | http://aircrashconsultants.com Air Crash Consultants Coordinates to:

• Network with lawyers in the US, lawyers in the decedent's country(s) and . lawyers elsewhere . • Collect from decedent's families statements, pictures and graphic evi - dence to illustrate how the loss of their loved one impacted their lives • Collate the story of the crash from the evidence and the independent ex - perts reconstruction . • Provide a day the life of the decedent in video for the attorney . • Collect essential supporting and legal documents for the case such as birth certificates, IDs, passports, death certificates, diplomas, work histories, and statements of income of the decedent . • Choreograph needed operations as they come up, especially for inter - national clients such as . . . • Arrange for visas, transportation and lodging for families in the rare case they are needed in the United States for depositions, court appearances, etc . • Provide litigation support for attorneys such as searching for experts for research, etc . • Facilitate translation of interrogatories/verifications (discovery docu - ments) to/from the family's language . • Lend our expertise and experience in navigating crash cases through the complexities of the legal system . • Perform other services as needed (which we would need many pages to list.)

We keep the flow of communication moving between the clients and the attorneys, providing 24/7 attention . For example, in Brazil the family calls a local number and our representative in New York answers the phone and connects the family with their attorney and talks to the caller in Portuguese .

Lawyers hire experts to examine the evidential data to look for responsible par - ties . There are more potential responsible parties than one might at first imagine, and that might lead to the case being heard in the United States .

Air Crash Consultants | [email protected] |U.S. (877) 348-0030 | U.S. (818) 348-0300 | http://aircrashconsultants.com Aviation Case Strategy someone on your side.

For the decedent’s family, the whole process can be painful and mystifying .

Aviation litigation occurs while the family is still dealing with loss . Years may pass before family members feel strong—the loss of loved ones in a crash is something they may never get over . In the months after the event, they are in no shape to face litigation . Insurance companies hire lawyers who can swoop in and out and take advantage of the family members vulnerability . The families should have their own lawyers to defend them. It is not that they are evil; insurance companies are made up of human beings who put on their shoes one at a time like anyone else, and they go home to their own families, but at the same time, this is their business . It is the business of the insurance companies to reduce their losses, so their objective is to provide as little compensation as they can get away with . They try to settle the case for as little as possible .

This is one of the areas where representation is important . When you are sitting at the negotiating table with a mound of legal paperwork and signing your rights away, imag - ine how valuable it is to have a powerful team on your side .

Air Crash Consultants | [email protected] |U.S. (877) 348-0030 | U.S. (818) 348-0300 | http://aircrashconsultants.com Professional Colleagues A close circle of superpower law firms consult Air Crash Consultants in International Aviation cases because George makes it easy for lawyers to do what they do best . George’s decades of experience includes International Aviation case coordination . “I’m not an expert,” George says, “But I can quote the experts . ”

George’s colleagues include pilots . He maintains Anonymous Experts, which keeps a long list of active and retired pilots and other experts who are qualified on innumerable types of aircraft who provide crucial input and opinions .

Anonymous Experts

When on the job, George determines what is known about the crash . Part of this process involves Anonymous Ex- perts, his private think tank of active pilot experts experienced on the par - ticular type of plane involved . These are professionals who know the type of plane, the operator, and all its opera - tions backwards and forwards . They can recognize any anomaly in mechan - ics, operations and procedures, and they apply their expertise to George’s research , but do not appear in court.

When George's assistance is re - quested, he goes through a specific checklist of criteria analyzing a case's merit . He conferences with specific Anonymous Experts pilots proficient in operating a plane like the one he is investigating, to answer model-specific questions that may come up in television interviews, client interviews or when conferring with lawyers . Their only purpose is to provide expert opinions of what occurred, independent of the gossip, buzz and bias of media coverage . Or sometimes a lawyer asks George to find them a particular type of expert .

Air Crash Consultants | g [email protected] |U.S. (877) 348-0030 | U.S. (818) 348-0300 | h ttp://aircrashconsultants.com k

This abbreviated photo section is comprised of thumbnails of a selection of aviation cases including Air Crash Consultant cases cur - rently being worked on, plus cases worked on by firms for whom ACC consults, and a few cases which ACC examined and elected not to pursue .

WRONGFUL DEATH CONSULTANTS A CALIFORNIA CORPORATION http://aircrashconsultants.com [email protected] U.S. (877) 348-0030 U.S. (818) 348-0300 August 10 2014–Sepahan Airlines Flight 5915 an July 24 2014-Air Algérie Flight 501 Swiftair /Air July 23 2014- TransAsia Airways Flight 222, ATR- IrAn-140 crashed at Mehrabad International Algérie MD-83 en route from Burkina Faso to 72 en route from Kaohsiung to Penghu, Taiwan, Aiport, Iran, killing 39 of 48 . Algiers, crashes in Mali killing all 118 aboard. crashes during go-around, killing 48 of 58.

July 17 2014-Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, (Ams - March 8 2014-Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 Boe - Feb 16 2014 Nepal Airlines Flight 183, de Havil - terdam to Kuala Lumpur) Boeing 777, shot ing 777 en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing land DHC-6, crashes near Khidim Nepal, down over Eastern killing 298 aboard. with 240 aboard disappears. killing all 18 people aboard.

November 29 2013– LAM Mozambique Airlines November 17 2013– Tatarstan Airlines Flight October 16 – Lao Airlines Flight 301, an ATR-72, Flight 470, an Embraer 190 crashes in Bwabwata 363, a Boeing 737, crashes at Kazan killing 44 crashes shortly before landing at Pakse 44 pas - park Nambia, killing 33. passengers and 6 crew in Kazan. sengers and five crew died.

Nov 16 2013, Bell 407 Helicopter crashed from October 3 2013– Associated AviationEmbraer August 14 2013-UPS Airlines Flight 1354,Airbus a low altitude, after it experienced mechanical 120, crashes in Lagos, Nigeria killing 15 peo - A300 crashes on approach to Birmingham–Shut - problems. Tegucigalpa, Honduras. ple. Twenty were aboard. tlesworth International Airport, killing 2.

October 3 2013-Associated Aviation Flight 361, July 7 2013-A Rediske Air de Havilland Canada July 6 2013-Asiana Airlines Flight 214,Boeing Embraer 120, crashes after takeoff from Murtala DHC-3 crashes on approach to Soldotna Air - 777, crashes short of San Francisco International Muhammed International, Lagos, killing 15. port, Alaska, killing all 10 aboard. runway killing three of 307 injuring 182.

Air Crash Consultants | [email protected] |U.S. (877) 348-0030 | U.S. (818) 348-0300 | http://aircrashconsultants.com May 16 2013-Nepal Airlines Flight 555,de Havil - April 29 2013-National Airlines Flight 102, Boe- April 13 – Flight 904, a Boeing 737 101 land Canada DHC-6, overruns runway atJom - ing 747 freighter crashes on takeoff from passengers and 7 crew members injuring 46 l. som Airport, Nepal, injuring 7people. Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan killing ll 7 aboard. Copilot could not see runway.

April 7 2013 Helipac/Helicópteros del Pacífico . February 13 – South Airlines Flight 8971, an January 29 – SCAT Airlines Flight 760, Bom - 13 fatalities near Perenco facility, Loreto Peru Antonov An-24, crash-lands injuring 5 of 52. bardier CRJ200, crashes on approach to Kaza - loss of speed by the aircraft on approach khstan, killing all 16 passengers and 5 crew

December 29 2012-Red Wings Airlines Flight December 25 2012-Air Bagan Flight11 Fokker Nov 30 2012-AéroService Ilyushin Il-76T crashes 9268, a Tupolev Tu-204 runway overrun at 100, crashlands near Heho Airport, Myanmar, on approach to Maya-Maya Republicof Congo Vnukovo International Airport killing 5 of 8 killing 1 aboard,1 on the ground, injuring 11. killing 6 aboard, 26 on the ground, injuring 14

June 3 2012-Dana Air Flight 992, MD-83 crashes Feb 28 2012, a Fuerza Aerea Guatemalteca July 28 2012 Mexico-AgustaWestland in Lagos, Nigeria on approach toMurtalaMuham Bell UH-iH Iroquois crashed in Cacalte San AW109SP 3 died in Cerro de la Catedral, med International Airport.killing 153 aboard +10 Luis Guatemala on a rescue mission, killing 10 Temoaya, Mexico State on Cerro Alpino hill

September 6 – Aerocon domestic Flight 238, July 13 2011 NOAR Linhas Aéreas Flight 4896 January 1 – Kolavia Flight 348, a Tupolev Tu- Swearingen SA227-BC Metro III 9 aboard, 8 fa - Let L-410 crash killed all14 passengers and 2 154, erupts in flames while taxiing at Surgut In - talities crashed near Trinidad Airport crew. Forced landing by Boa Viagem beach ternational Airport. 134 aboard. 3 fatalities, 32 injured

Air Crash Consultants | [email protected] |U.S. (877) 348-0030 | U.S. (818) 348-0300 | http://aircrashconsultants.com May 22 2010-Air India Express Flight 812 from May 12 2010-Afriqiyah Airways Flight 771 Jan 25th 2010-Ethiopian Airlines flight 409 Dubai, United Arab Emirates, a Boeing 737-800 crashed in Tripoli, 93 passengers and 11 crew crashed into the Mediterranean Sea.;8 crew 158 fatalities and 8 survivors. one survivor and 92 passengers were fatally injured.

Oct 26 2009-S-Air Flight 9607 Hawker-Beech June 29, 2009-Yemenia Airways Flight 626 June 01, 2009 -Air France Flight 447 an Airbus Belarus operated by S-Air crashed at -2 crashed Indian Ocean on approach to Mo - A330 en route from Rio de Janerio, Brazil to International Airport 5 fatalities roni, Comoros. 152 of 153 were fatalities Paris, France lost over the Atlantic Ocean.

May 20, 2009-Tentara Nasional Indonesia-AU May 5, 2009-Cessna Veracruz Cessna 340, April 11 2009-Cessna 210M Concepcion, Bolivia Jakarta-Madiun- crashed in neighborhood,14 crashed in Veracruz, Mexico. Pilot and 2 pas - Commercial pilot and three passengers, all Bo - crew members and 98 passengers aboard sengers were fatally injured . livian citizens, were fatally injured.

March 26 2009-Arrow Cargo Manaus to Colom- March 12 2009-Cougar Sikorsky Flight-Cougar Feb 12 2009-Colgan/Air crashed Clarence Cen- bia with 4 crew,diverted to Medellin. Safe land - Helicopter impacted the North Atlantic .2 pi - ter, NY, 2 pilots, 2 flight attendants, 45 passen - ing but falling pieces when engine explodes. lots and 15 passengers died, 1 survivor. gers killed, one on the ground

Feb 7 2009-Manaus Aerotaxi Embraer EMB Dec 15 2008-Linea Aerea Puertoriquana Sus - Nov 4 2008-Gov’t Mexico LearJet impacted crashed in Coari, Brazil in Manacapuru River in pended pilot crashes en route to, Bahamas. Mexico City, 9 passengers & crew & 14 on the the Amazon Last contact was ATC in Turks and Caicos ground killed. 40 on the ground were injured.

Air Crash Consultants | [email protected] |U.S. (877) 348-0030 | U.S. (818) 348-0300 | http://aircrashconsultants.com October 21 2008-Ciudad Victoria, Tamaulipas Sept 14, 2008-Aeroflot-Nord Flight 821 Sept 6, 2008-Robinson R-44, crashed in a After a power loss, the aircraft impacted the crashed on approach to Perm airport. All 6 wildlife preserve in Kuzmino Village, desert killing the pilot and 4 passengers. crew and 82 passengers died at the scene. Region, killing the pilot and 1 passenger

Aug 30, 2008 -Conviasa en route from Maique- Aug 24, 2008-Iran Aseman/Itek Air Flight 6895 August 20 2008 -Spanair Flight JK5022 tia to Latacunga struck Iliniza volcano, killing crashed returning to Manas Airport. 7 crew & crashed just after takeoff from 36L Barajas. 154 the three aboard. 83 passengers aboard; with 65 fatalities . of the172 aboard, died. 162 were passengers.

July 2, 2008-UTAir Nizhnevartovsk A roter mal- May 30 2008-Taca AirlinesFlight 390 134 were April 3 2008-Aero JL en route to Jalapa, Ver- functioned. The burning helicopter crashed aboard. The captain and two passengers sus - acruz, Mexico After losing altitude, the Cessna with 13 passengers, 9 fatalities tained fatal injuries including 2 in cars crashed in the Toluca Valley in Xalatlaco

Feb 21 2008-Santa Barbara Airlines Flight 518 Sept 16 2007-One-Two-Go Flight 269 overran July 17, 2007 -TAM Lineas Aereas Flight 3054 with inoperative navigation equipment struck a runway landing at the Phuket, 89 fatailities went off the runway. and collided with the Tam mountain killing 46. among the 123 passengers and seven crew. Express warehouse

May 12, 2007-Bell Ferry Flight crashed near Ciu - Sept 29 2006-GOL Transportes Aereos Flight July 9 2006-S7Airlines Flight 778 crashed in dad Victoria, Tamaulipas, Mexico. The pilot Gol Boeing 737 Embraer Legacy 600 busi - Irkutsk, . Seventy six passengers and 3 died and the passenger was seriously injured. ness jet breakup. 154 fatalities flight attendants survived. 124 died.

Air Crash Consultants | [email protected] |U.S. (877) 348-0030 | U.S. (818) 348-0300 | http://aircrashconsultants.com published by

AIR CRASH CONSULTANTS http://aircrashconsultants.com [email protected]

a division of

WRONGFUL DEATH CONSULTANTS A C ALIFORNIA CORPORATION U.S. (877) 348-0030 U.S. (818) 348-0300