Small aviation and space businesses can access Qld Govt Grant for legal advice through the Small Business COVID-19 Adaption Grant Program – Round 2 is now open as of 1 July and will only receive applications for a short time. Use grant funds to ensure you have important aviation or space legal advice to flourish after COVID-19. IALPG is the law firm for air and space industry participants, and we stand with you through these unprecedented times with faith that the business of aerospace will, as it always have, return albeit in a different and more resilient way. Accordingly we […]

IALPG is proud to unveil its newest practice area with a service offering geared towards aviation industry participants. We are now able to assist airlines or other air operators and their employees (be they flight crew or otherwise) who find themselves in workplace disputes they cannot resolve themselves. We offer services in Australia through IALPG, a full service air and space law firm, and in the United States through IALPG USA LLC, a mediation-only company which will (until COVID-19 restrictions cease) be focusing on video conference mediation. IALPG’s Principal and Founder, Joseph Wheeler, is a regional expert in international and domestic […]

Bruce Towers (Mr Towers) was employed by Hevilift Limited (Hevilift) in 2006 as a helicopter pilot.  Hevilift provided air transport for workers in a mining project in the Papua New Guinea Highlands. On 20 April 2006, Mr Towers was ferrying mine workers to a camp site when he received a radio report of fog in the area. He responded by saying that he would “take a look”. According to Papua New Guinea Civil Aviation Rules – he was to remain clear of cloud. Within minutes, the helicopter that he was flying became caught in cloud almost instantaneously and crashed, killing […]

This article – ‘Sexual assaults in the sky: The failure of aviation law and how to fix it’ – first appeared in Precedent, the journal of the Australian Lawyers Alliance, issue 151, published in April 2019 (Sydney, Australia, ISSN 1449-7719). It has been reproduced with the kind permission of the authors and the ALA. For more information about the ALA, please go to: www.lawyersalliance.com.au There has been a recent increase in reporting of sexual harassment and assault on airlines by both passengers and cabin crew, which may indicate increased incidence of such acts. Such reports highlight a multitude of issues, […]

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought significant change to the lives of many, bringing with it unprecedented statutory allowances across many industries including in aviation law. On 22 April 2020, the Queensland Parliament passed new legislation that allows courts to extend statutory time limits – giving parties more time to commence or take steps in court proceedings. The legislation is called the COVID-19 Emergency Response Act 2020 (Qld). The Act is good news for potential litigants as it acknowledges the current restrictions placed on court proceedings and empowers courts to grant extensions of time whereas there was previously no such legal […]

 So you’ve been on a flight that a COVID-19 infected person has travelled on too? The tragedy of this situation may never eventuate but of course you might have concerns. Given the public health emergency that is the COVID-19 pandemic, and the recent (applicable today, 25 March 2020) ban by the Australian Government on non essential international travel, have the precautions that have been observed  on airliners to date for travellers who have been exposed to the virus been sufficient? Do they leave travellers and crews with unnecessary risks? If so, who is liable for the consequences, including losses suffered […]

On 26 January 2020, a Sikorsky S-76 helicopter carrying Kobe Bryant, the famous American basketball icon, crashed in Calabasas, California killing all onboard, including Bryant’s 13-year-old daughter Gianna and 8 other people. On 24 February 2020, a star-studded memorial was held in celebration of the 5-time NBA Champion and his daughter Gianna, which included an emotional speech by his wife Vanessa Bryant, that captured the hearts and emotions of those watching. On the same day Vanessa Bryant initiated a civil lawsuit in the Los Angeles Superior Court against the helicopter company – Island Express Helicopters Inc, its holding company – […]