Medical care is frequently compared to aviation, as many of the factors which lead to errors in both fields are similar. In this article we review the literature on such events and discuss the ethical, legal and practical aspects of civil liability in the case of medical error. Ethics, professional policy and the law, as well as the relevant empirical literature, suggest that timely and candid disclosure should be standard practice. In harmonization to ethical codex, the physician is obliged to inform the patient about the origin of medical error. Civil liability is one of the most important parts of law that regulates health care service. Medical chambers could be having a very important role in alternative methods of medical error disciplinary screening proceedings. Guidelines for disclosure of medical error to patients, and their families if necessary, are proposed.