Recently, a German tourist suffered an airline injury during international travel. The incident occurred on the return flight following her initial flight from Frankfurt, Germany to the United States. Therefore, this injury occurred during what is deemed “international carriage.” As such, the Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules for International Carriage by Air, opened for Signature at Montreal, 1999 (the “Montreal Convention 1999”) applied to the case. The Montreal Convention is a legal framework for assigning airline liability. Such assignment of liability includes cases of, for example, injury or death while travelling by airplane. Relying upon the Montreal Convention, Jackson Law International was able to secure a favorable settlement for Jackson Law International’s client.
Itinerary – Application of the Montreal Convention.
The actual injury occurred from a flight from Miami, Florida to Las Vegas, Nevada. This would ordinarily be considered a domestic flight and, therefore, not be deemed international carriage. Despite the domestic nature of the flight, the next leg of the flight was to be followed by another flight with a different airline back to Frankfurt, Germany, where she had started. In fact, the Montreal Convention states “[c]arriage to be performed by several successive carriers is deemed, for the purposes of this Convention, to be one undivided carriage . . . and it does not lose its international character merely because one contract or a series of contracts is to be performed entirely within the territory of the same State.” Thus, although somewhat roundabout, the flight had to be considered international carriage under the Montreal Convention.
Application of the Montreal Convention is significant. This is because the Convention is written in such a manner that an airline is liable for damages sustained due to an airline injury during international travel, regardless of proof of negligence or wrongful conduct. There is a limit to the amount of recovery, though. Nonetheless, the absence of a requirement to prove negligence on the part of the airline is significant in this context.
Mechanism of this Airline Injury.
With that backdrop in mind, this German tourist was sitting in her seat on a Frontier Airline flight, when a flight attendant leaned against a partial wall. This wall was a fixture of the airplane, but, nonetheless, a large plastic pane falling out of the wall and down onto our client’s head and face. There was no time in Las Vegas to secure medical attention. So, she had wait until she landed in Germany. There, she secured imaging scans at a local hospital in Frankfurt, Germany. The physicians there initially discovered that she had sustained a non-displaced fracture of the bone in her nose. Further imaging, however, suggested that there was some level of displacement.
Resolution with Frontier Airlines.
Jackson Law International was able to secure a settlement in the amount of $40,000.00 with Frontier Airlines without the need for a lawsuit. The pre-litigation settlement meant that our client was able to maximize her recovery because the significant costs that always accompany litigation were not incurred.
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Achieving an excellent result for our clients – whether due to an airline injury during international travel or otherwise – is our day-to-day focus. Schedule a consultation with our experts from Jackson Law International. We are here for you – competent, reliable, and personal.
By Michael R. Jackson, Shareholder
© Jackson Law International 2020