Aviation law
An attorney who already knows which end of the airplane is which.
Aviation law covers aircraft and airport operations, maintenance, air traffic, and licensing. Most of it is federal. Zaven A. Pehlevanian is an attorney and an FAA-licensed aircraft mechanic. That is the point of this page.
The FAA, TSA, and NTSB occupy most of this field. States have little room to legislate aviation, aside from matters that do not conflict with federal law, such as certain local zoning, hours, and noise rules. International flights add another layer. Clients — pilots, owners, shops, and companies that rely on aircraft — often need counsel before a problem becomes an enforcement action or a lawsuit.
Accident work can involve collisions, takeoff and landing events, turbulence injuries, and product issues on aircraft ranging from commercial jets to helicopters, hang gliders, and some drones. Negligence, product liability, wrongful death, and personal injury principles still apply, but jurisdiction and the NTSB investigation change how the case is built. Flights that cross state lines make venue a real question, not a technicality.
We do not pretend every aviation dispute belongs in this office. When the facts match the practice — maintenance, regulatory, or accident issues where mechanical literacy matters — we can take the matter without a translator between the hangar and the brief.