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Aviation accident law is necessarily an exception to the fact that Personal Injury Law  - a tort law - is regulated primarily by individual jurisdictions - generally the states.  The FAA (Federal Aviation Agency) and the NTSB (National Transportation Safety Board) have many standards and regulations in place which supercede state law.  

The tragic Korean Airlines 007 disaster, which occurred on the high seas, spotlighted a Federal law as it deprived families of full recovery of damages because the crash occurred in the ocean outside the territorial limits of the United States. A Federal Admiralty Law called The Death On The High Seas Act (DOHSA) limits the heirs' monetary damage recovery by only allowing recovery for lost support. If a fatal crash occurs within a state's territorial waters, or on land, state law will generally allow damages for medical & funeral expenses, loss of victim's anticipated earnings in the future until time of retirement or death, loss of pension benefits (or some inheritances) caused by the victim's death, pain and suffering or mental anguish to the survivors, loss of care, protection or companionship to the survivors.  (In 1988, President Reagan extended the territorial sovereignty of the United States from 3 miles to 12 miles, from the shore of the U.S., its territories and possessions.)

A civil wrong, or a tort, is recognized by law as grounds for a lawsuit.  Sometimes these wrongs are considered crimes and punishable with imprisonment, but the primary aim of tort law is to provide relief through compensation to injured parties  for the damages incurred.  Among the types of recoverable damages are: loss of earnings capacity, pain and suffering, and reasonable medical expenses.  They include both present and future expected losses.  

Please visit the personal injury page for additional resources, attorneys and to learn more about general personal injury law.