Colorado Aviation Accident Lawyer

Aviation Accidents in Colorado: What the Official Record Shows

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is the independent federal agency that, in its own words, is "charged by Congress with investigating every civil aviation accident in the United States." It determines what it calls the probable cause, meaning its formal conclusion about why an accident happened, and it states that it "does not assign fault or blame." Three recent Colorado records show how its reports look at different stages.

• DCA26LA150. On March 6, 2026, at Denver, CO, a Boeing 737-824 operated by United Airlines Inc. under Part 121 (scheduled air carrier) was involved in an accident recorded with 1 minor injury, a ground injury. The NTSB's Aviation Investigation Notification states it is conducting a Class 4 investigation, that "a preliminary report will not be issued but a final report will be released at the conclusion of the investigation," and that the information "is preliminary and subject to change." The investigation is open.
• DCA25LA275. On July 26, 2025, at Denver, Colorado, a Boeing 737-8 sustained substantial damage, with highest injury recorded as none. The NTSB's final report states its probable cause as "the failure of the airplane's left main landing gear tires and wheels during the takeoff roll due to the thermal relief plugs melting and releasing tire pressure, which resulted in abnormal airplane handling characteristics and led the flight crew to reject the takeoff at high speed."
• DCA25FA159. On March 13, 2025, a Boeing 737-823 operating as American Airlines flight 1006 diverted to Denver International Airport after engine vibrations on takeoff from Colorado Springs, according to the NTSB's preliminary report. It records that a fire followed engine shutdown at the gate, that passengers evacuated, and 12 minor injuries. The report states it "is preliminary and subject to change"; it contains no probable cause.

A preliminary report records early facts. It is not a finding of why anything happened. Only a final report states a probable cause, and even then, federal law limits its use in court. Under 49 U.S.C. § 1154(b), "No part of a report of the Board, related to an accident or an investigation of an accident, may be admitted into evidence or used in a civil action for damages resulting from a matter mentioned in the report." More on this appears in pages on the NTSB docket and on NTSB versus FAA roles.

For someone injured, this means the NTSB's conclusion, when it comes, is not the answer to who is legally responsible, and a claim is built from other records. If your accident has an NTSB number, it may help to note which stage its report is at, since Colorado's deadlines run on their own clock regardless.

Who May Be Responsible After a Colorado Aviation Accident

Responsibility can rest with more than one party, and each type of party is measured against a different legal question. Those types include the aircraft manufacturer and the makers of components such as engines or landing gear; an air carrier, meaning an airline that flies passengers or cargo for hire, like the Part 121 operators in the records above; a charter (Part 135) operator, meaning a company that flies on-demand or smaller commercial trips such as air taxis, air ambulances and many sightseeing flight tours; maintenance companies; and the pilot.

If an operator, mechanic or pilot is involved, the usual claim is negligence: whether there was a duty of care, whether it was breached, whether that breach caused your injury, and what damages followed. If a part or the aircraft itself may have failed, the claim against a manufacturer or seller is often product liability, which asks whether the product was defective and whether the defect caused your harm. The accident alone does not establish either one; for an injured passenger or a family, the question is what the facts show about each party's role.

The FAA's federal rules set operating and maintenance standards for these parties. They sit alongside Colorado tort law, which is what decides the deadlines, fault and damages that affect your claim.

A landowner can matter too. Under section 33-41-103 of the Colorado Revised Statutes, an owner who permits "without charge" any person to use land for recreational purposes does not thereby give that person the status of "an invitee or licensee to whom a duty of care is owed." Section 33-41-104 keeps liability for "willful or malicious failure to guard or warn against a known dangerous condition" and where the owner "charges the person" for recreational use, with stated exceptions for leases and easements to public entities. Whether that statute reaches a recreational flight on private land depends on the facts.

Because the possible claim changes with each party, it may help to write down who operated, maintained and owned the aircraft, and where it came down. Sorting those roles, and which theory fits each, is one of the things a conversation with an attorney can cover.

Filing Deadlines Under Colorado Law

Under section 13-80-102 of the Colorado Revised Statutes, these actions "must be commenced within two years after the cause of action accrues, and not thereafter," regardless of theory or defendant:

• "Tort actions, including but not limited to actions for negligence," except that this paragraph "does not apply to any tort action arising out of the use or operation of a motor vehicle";
• "All actions for wrongful death, except as described in subsection (2) of this section." The terms of that exception depend on the section's current text on the official page.

For defective products, section 13-80-106 of the Colorado Revised Statutes provides that an action including one for "the failure to provide proper instructions for the use of any product shall be brought within two years after the claim for relief arises and not thereafter."

Two rules can change the clock. Section 13-80-106 states that if a person entitled to sue is "under the age of eighteen years, mentally incompetent, imprisoned, or absent from the United States" when the claim accrues and "is without spouse or natural or legal guardian," the person may sue within the time limit "after the disability is removed"; if the person has a legal representative, that representative "shall bring the action within the period of limitation." Section 13-81-103 adds that where a person under disability has, or is later given, a legal representative before the disability ends, the limitation period runs "in the same manner, for the same period" as for anyone else.

For a parent whose child was hurt, or a family with a member in long recovery, these rules decide which date governs. A missed deadline can end a claim entirely, and when a claim "accrues" or "arises" can itself turn on the facts. Keeping a record of the accident date, the date an injury or defect became known, and whether a guardian or representative exists gives an attorney what is needed to identify which date applies.

Colorado's Comparative-Fault Rule and What It Means for Your Claim

You may be worried that something you did, or a choice your family member made as a pilot or passenger, will be held against the claim. Colorado answers that question with a modified comparative-negligence rule. "Comparative" means fault is divided among the people involved rather than treated as all or nothing; "modified" means a person's own share can still bar recovery once it reaches a set point. That differs from a strict contributory-negligence approach, where any fault at all by the injured person would bar recovery.

Section 13-21-111 of the Colorado Revised Statutes states that contributory negligence "shall not bar recovery" in an action for death or injury "if such negligence was not as great as the negligence of the person against whom recovery is sought," and that damages "shall be diminished in proportion to the amount of negligence attributable to the person for whose injury, damage, or death recovery is made." Subsection (3) adds that if that proportion "is equal to or greater than the negligence of the person against whom recovery is sought," the court "shall enter a judgment for the defendant."

In plain terms: if a jury found total damages and found the injured person 20 percent at fault, the award would be reduced by that 20 percent. If the injured person's share matched or exceeded the defendant's, there would be no recovery against that defendant. How fault is divided is a question of fact, and in aviation cases, with pilots, operators, mechanics and manufacturers all in the picture, it is often one of the central questions. If you are concerned about your own or a relative's role, that concern is worth raising in a conversation with an attorney, who can look at how fault might be weighed against each party separately.

Damages Colorado Law May Allow — and the Limits That Apply

Colorado statutes speak of economic losses, such as medical expenses and lost earnings, and of noneconomic loss or injury, the harm that has no receipt. In wrongful-death actions, section 13-21-203 of the Colorado Revised Statutes lets the jury award damages "as they may deem fair and just," including noneconomic damages "for grief, loss of companionship, pain and suffering, and emotional stress," subject to that section's limitations.

Section 13-21-102.5 of the Colorado Revised Statutes limits noneconomic damages by filing date, in actions other than those against health-care professionals or institutions:

• In a civil action filed before January 1, 2025, those damages "shall not exceed the sum of two hundred fifty thousand dollars, unless the court finds justification by clear and convincing evidence therefor," and "in no case" may they exceed five hundred thousand dollars.
• In a civil action filed on or after January 1, 2025, and before January 1, 2026, or a claim for relief that accrues on or after January 1, 2025, other than a wrongful death action, the total "must not exceed the sum of one million five hundred thousand dollars."

This page does not set out the figure for actions filed on or after January 1, 2026, other than through the accrual-date language above; that figure depends on the section's current official text. Wrongful-death actions fall under the limitations in section 13-21-203 itself, and its current figures also depend on the official text. Which bracket applies, and whether any amount is allowed at all, depends on the dates, the facts, and how fault is allocated. If you are tracking losses, keeping medical bills and records of missed work separate from notes on pain and daily-life changes mirrors how the statute divides economic and noneconomic harm.

Who May Bring a Wrongful-Death Claim in Colorado

A family after a fatal crash often asks first who is allowed to act. A wrongful-death claim is a claim brought by the people the law names for the losses they suffer because someone died. It is different from a claim for the injuries the person suffered before death, which belongs to the person or, after death, to the estate.

Section 13-21-203 provides that "All damages accruing under section 13-21-202 shall be sued for and recovered by the same parties and in the same manner as provided in section 13-21-201." Section 13-21-201 sets out which family members may sue and in what order, including rules tied to "the first year after such death." Because the statute ties standing to those specific parties and that order, who may file in a given family depends on the current text of section 13-21-201. The two-year wrongful-death period in section 13-80-102, described above, applies, and the damages rules in section 13-21-203 differ from those in an injury case. Because timing within the first year can matter, a family may want to discuss among themselves, and with an attorney, who the surviving relatives are and who may act.

Evidence That Tends to Matter in Colorado Aviation Accident Cases

Because the NTSB's reports cannot be used in a civil damages case, an injured person's claim rests on the underlying records. The DCA25FA159 report shows the kinds involved: the cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder sent to the NTSB's lab, airport video of fluid leaking, and an evacuation slide shipped for inspection. Records that may matter to your claim include:

• The NTSB docket and factual materials, keeping in mind that 49 U.S.C. § 1154(b) bars the NTSB's reports themselves from a civil damages action;
• Aircraft logbooks, maintenance records, airworthiness directives and the operator's certificates;
• Air traffic control communications and airport video;
• Medical records showing injuries and treatment;
• Photos, boarding passes and witnesses' names and accounts.

Cockpit recordings follow their own federal rule. Under 49 U.S.C. § 1154(a), a party generally "may not use discovery to obtain" a cockpit recorder recording, unless a court, after a private in-chambers review, decides it is "necessary to provide the party with sufficient information for the party to receive a fair trial," and any release comes under a protective order. Much of the technical record sits with operators and manufacturers, but the records you hold yourself, showing where you were, what you experienced and how your injuries were treated, are the ones worth gathering and keeping now.

Questions Worth Asking Before Choosing an Aviation Accident Attorney

Aviation cases layer federal operating rules over Colorado tort law, run alongside an NTSB investigation that may take a long time, often involve several defendants of different types, and frequently turn on technical questions about components and maintenance. For someone injured or grieving, that structure affects how quickly records are found and whether each possible defendant is identified before the deadlines above. People comparing a Colorado plane crash lawyer or a Colorado helicopter accident lawyer often ask how a lawyer approaches each of those layers, how Colorado's deadlines interact with an open investigation, and how product-liability and negligence claims are kept apart. The broader picture is on the site's aviation accident lawyer and plane crash lawyer pages.

This practice is focused on aviation: airline, charter, air ambulance, helicopter, sightseeing, flight-school and private-aircraft accidents. Car and truck crashes, workers' compensation and medical-malpractice matters fall outside it. If an aviation accident in Colorado is behind your search, you may want to consider a conversation about how these Colorado rules apply to the dates and records in your situation through the case evaluation page.