Ira Furman is Of Counsel to the Rapoport Law Offices, P.C. and serves as a member of the firm's aviation litigation team. He maintains a private law practice in New York and possesses extensive experience in the area of airplane crash and related product liability matters. His work in aviation litigation began when he provided legal counsel to an airline employee and brought to light evidence of consistent fraud in safety procedures and record keeping by Eastern Air Lines at LaGuardia Airport. Mr. Furman's presentation of the evidence to the Federal Aviation Administration and the Justice Department preceded the federal indictments of airline officials and the closing of the air carrier. These efforts were conducted pro bono (without compensation). Mr. Furman continues to further the cause of airplane passenger safety and has testified as an expert before the United States Senate Aviation Subcommittee on the shortcomings in Federal Aviation Administration management of airline safety.
Mr. Furman is a former Deputy Director for Public Affairs for the National Transportation Safety Board ("NTSB") in Washington, D.C. In this capacity, he served as principal spokesman for the NTSB in connection with major airplane, rail, highway, marine and pipeline accident investigations. He was on the scene for the investigations of the Air Florida crash into the Potomac, the Delta Airlines windshear accident in Dallas, a fatal crash at Boston's Logan Airport, and the mid-air DC-9 collision over a Los Angeles suburb. He also represented the NTSB in connection with its assistance to NASA for the investigation of the Challenger Space Shuttle disaster.
Mr. Furman uses his unique background in the investigation of aircraft accidents to assist in news coverage of aviation disasters. As a television news consultant he was flown to the scene to broadcast live from Lockerbie, Scotland about the investigation of the terrorist bombing of a Pan Am flight.
Mr. Furman was also retained by CBS News in connection with the TWA Flight 800 tragedy and appeared on the CBS Morning News and 48 Hours with Dan Rather, and Good Morning America among several other television and radio programs. On the eve of the TWA accident he was the only expert urging consideration of the possibility of a mechanical or structural failure, rather than a terrorist-induced explosion. The NTSB and the Federal Bureau of Investigation later concluded the accident's cause was an explosion of the aircraft's center fuel tank.
The inexplicable crash of an Egyptian airliner shortly after takeoff from JFK International put Mr. Furman on the air for the ABC television network's coverage of the disaster. He also appeared on all major network-affiliated television stations in New York to comment on the unfolding investigation.
Mr. Furman worked as a consultant for ABC television news and broadcasted live from the site of the crash of an Avianca aircraft on the north shore of Long Island. On the night of the accident he properly concluded in an on-air interview that the aircraft appeared to have run out of fuel on its way to JFK International.
Mr. Furman also worked as a network consultant at the site of the miraculous, life-saving DC-10 crash-landing in Sioux City, Iowa; a US Air runway collision in Los Angeles; and other accidents at LaGuardia Airport in New York.
Print media across the country have also turned to Mr. Furman for his accident investigation experience. Over the years since leaving government service he has been a resource on aviation matters to such newspapers as the New York Times, Washington Post, Boston Globe, Chicago Tribune, Newsday, Los Angeles Times and The Wall Street Journal.
Education
- J.D., Columbus School of Law, Catholic University of America, 1986
- Best Legal Brief Award Winner, Miller Cup Recipient for Moot Court Competition
- B.A., Political Science, Hunter College, City University of New York, 1965
Bar Admissions
- New York, 1987
Court Admissions
- United States Supreme Court, 1991District of Columbia Court of Appeals, 1988
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, 1992
- U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, 1988
- U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, 1988
Professional Affiliations
- New York State Bar Association - Member, Mass Disaster Response Team
- Nassau County Bar Association - Member, Aviation Law Committee and Conciliation Committee
- District of Columbia Bar Association
Community Activities
- President of the Board of Directors -Woodward Mental Health Center in Freeport, New York