AIRLINE INCIDENT INFORMATION Airlines in the U.S. are governed by the federal government’s Department of Transportation (DOT) through the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).  If you are injured on an airline flight then local, federal, or international law may apply depending upon the circumstances.  John Gagliano is Board Certified in Aviation Law by the Florida Bar and Gagliano Law Offices handles major aviation injury and wrongful death cases across the United States. This post provides some general information about the most common airline incidents.  We encourage you to ..read more

  June 15, 2022 – John Gagliano Selected to Super Lawyers List. John Gagliano of Gagliano Law Offices has again been selected to Super Lawyers list in the area of Aviation and Aerospace Law.  Super Lawyers compiles a comprehensive list of lawyers throughout the country over 70 different practice areas.  To be chosen, one must first be nominated before undergoing an extensive multi-phase process, which includes evaluations and peer reviews based on one’s professional record as well as other honors or awards they earned. John earned his Juris Doctor from Temple University Beasley ..read more

June 1, 2022 The Florida Bar announced today that John Gagliano has earned the prestigious Aviation Law Board Certification.  Attorney board certification is officiated by the Florida Supreme Court and administered by the Florida Bar.  The Florida Bar thoroughly evaluates all board-certified lawyers for credibility and expertise in a particular area of law.  Board certified attorneys are also evaluated for professionalism and ethics in the practice of law.  Aviation Law Board Certification is Florida’s official, independent determination of a lawyer’s expertise to practice ..read more

February 21, 2022 This past President’s Day weekend was unfortunately a deadly one for the aviation community.  Two helicopter crashes occurred within hours of each other in Florida and California.  Tragically, a police officer was killed and the pilot was injured in a crash near Newport Beach, California.  Two other people were injured in a crash near Miami, Florida though a third person in Florida miraculously survived uninjured.  These two helicopters – an MD 500N in California and a Robinson R44 in Florida – are very different machines though it seems they both suffered ..read more

January 11, 2022 A Eurocopter model EC135 medical evacuation helicopter crashed in a neighborhood near Philadelphia today.  Thankfully only minor injuries were reported.  John Gagliano, a former Navy pilot and current aviation attorney, commented about the miraculous circumstances of the crash and the actions of the pilot on Philadelphia television in the minutes after the crash.  John appeared on several television networks including NBC 10 and ABC 6.  The story was reported nationally because the pilot heroically and skillfully maneuvered the helicopter to a forced landin ..read more

  August 26, 2021 On this date in 1980 the FAA certified the McDonnell Douglas MD-80 airliner for operation with two pilots.  This certification was revolutionary, most airlines at the time operated with three crew members in the cockpit: pilot, a co-pilot and a flight engineer.  Before 1980 the presence of three pilots was considered essential for safety even though the accident record of the 1970’s showed that three pilots often did not work together as a coordinated and coherent crew.  Airline Accidents occurred much more frequently than today. To block the FAA’s certifi ..read more

February 15, 2021 President Franklin D. Roosevelt was the first U.S. President known to fly in an aircraft while in office.  The president’s first journey via aircraft began at 10 p.m. on January 9, 1943 on a train – the president took a train from Washington, DC’s Union Station to Miami.  In Florida, President Roosevelt boarded his plane for the first official presidential flight.  The plane was a Boeing model 314 Clipper aircraft named the Dixie Clipper. President Roosevelt’s historic flight departed from Miami at 6 a.m. on January 10, 1943 with a destination of Casablanc ..read more

Updated February 10, 2021 The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) held a virtual hearing on February 9, 2021, regarding the cause of the helicopter crash that killed Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers, Bryant’s daughter Gianna, and seven others in January 2020. The Sikorsky S-76B helicopter struck a fog-covered hillside in Calabasas, California, leading to the deaths of everyone on board. The group was traveling to a youth basketball tournament at Bryant’s Mamba Academy in Thousand Oaks at the time of the crash. The night before the crash, the broker who arranged the flight expresse ..read more

John Gagliano is honored to have been elected to the Board of Directors of the National Association of Flight Instructors (NAFI) for a three-year term, beginning in 2020.  NAFI is the preeminent national organization of flight instructors that supports a commitment to professionalism and aviation excellence. NAFI’s mission also promotes the flight instructor’s essential role in the advancement of aviation safety, education and training.  John has been an active flight instructor since 2004 and his selection to the NAFI Board of Directors reaffirms his commitment to NAFI’s missio ..read more

The U.S. Navy Flight Demonstration Team, the Blue Angels and the U.S. Air Force Air Demonstration Team, the Thunderbirds, will perform joint flyovers of the greater New York City metropolitan area and the greater Trenton/Philadelphia area on Tuesday, April 28, 2020. The Navy and Air Force teams are comprised of the top aerial demonstration pilots in the world. They will be flying throughout the country this spring to show support for our heroic front line workers and in support of all who are battling the COVID-19 pandemic. Large-scale diagrams of the April 28, 2020 flyover routes and times ar ..read more