Randal Robert Craft Jr.

Randal Robert Craft Jr. focusses his practice in providing advice and litigating legal matters in aviation, product liability, mass disaster, and insurance matters. He is the head of the National Aviation Industry Team of the law firm Holland & Knight LLP.

He has a rich experience of more than 35 years in advising and representing aviation clients. He serves as the lead counsel in major air crash cases and National Transportation Safety Board investigations throughout the country.

Some of his notable cases include major crashes like the American Airlines DC10 crash in Chicago, the TWA Flight 800 B747 crash near Long Island, the United Airlines DC10 crash at Sioux City, the American Airlines MD82 accident at Little Rock, the runway collision between a USAir B737 and a Skywest Metroliner in Los Angeles, and the USAir F28 crash at New York City.

He advised the Federal Aviation Administration and Congress and also represented them for further related investigations. As to major overseas accidents, He served as a co-lead counsel in major overseas accidents for Pan American on the Tenerife B747 collision, and for UPS over Flight 6 B747 crash in Dubai.

Randal Robert Craft Jr. was U.S. lead counsel for Air France on the Concorde crash and Turkish Airlines over the Flight 1951 B737 crash in Amsterdam.

He has extensive experience in dealing with the NTSB and advises clients over NTSB investigations of several less-well-known crashes in the U.S. as well as about investigations by foreign governments for foreign accidents.

In the year 2000, the NTSB invited him to serve as a moderator of the panel on accident investigation, proprietary information, and tort litigation at the NTSB Symposium on Transportation Safety and Law in Washington, D.C., where he also discussed solutions for safety on the final panel.

He spoke to NTSB technical staff members on the roles and concerns of outside counsel of parties in NTSB investigations at NTSB headquarters in 2007. The NTSB invited him again in 2008 to give the same presentation to its Board members and other staff members.

In 1998, he served as one of two defense attorneys participating in the by-invitation-only NTSB forum on the function of NTSB accident investigations in Santa Monica, California backed by the RAND Institute of Civil Justice.

He also featured in an Air Transport World strategic management article published in November 1998 and titled In Disaster’s Wake that addressed the readiness of airlines in responding correctly to an accident.

He has also served as a leading participant in the NTSB General Counsel’s Listening Session in the year 2015. He has moderated a panel on NTSB accident investigations at the American Bar Association Aviation Litigation Seminar in the year 2003 in New York City.

Randal Robert Craft Jr. frequently speaks on topics such as handling NTSB investigations. For instance, at the International Air Transport Association Airline Insurance Conference in London, he spoke about the learning airline risk managers need to have about NTSB investigations in 2005.

He has presented on NTSB accident investigations at several occasions such as the European Aerospace Risk Management Seminar in Amsterdam in 1994, Air and Space Law Conference in San Francisco in 1998, and Air Line Pilots Association Attorneys’ Accident Investigation Course in Washington, D.C. in 1990.

He has gained extensive experience in non-aviation cases as well. He has served as a lead counsel in many product liability cases including mass disaster issues for manufacturers of toys, chemicals, industrial machinery, railcars, engines, medical equipment, electrical equipment, and household consumer products. He has advised such manufacturers on preventive measures.

He has also handled insurance cases by counseling and representing insurers in dealing with coverage issues, the interpretation of policies and claims settlement procedures.

The New York State Court of Appeals provided him the rare honor of presenting the Spring Lecture in June 2015. He frequently speaks and writes topics such as handling of mass disaster cases, insurance, aviation & space issues, and product liability.

Elite publications such as the National Law Journal, the Journal of Space Law, the Journal of Air Law and Commerce, the New York Times, several bar associations and even foreign publications have features his articles.

Randal Robert Craft Jr. has founded and also served as the first Chairman of the Council of New York Law Associates. This leading pro bono of business and transactional legal services provider for nonprofit organizations is now called the Lawyers’ Alliance for New York.