Passenger Dies from Secondhand Smoke, U.S. Supreme Court Holds Airline Responsible

The U.S. Supreme Court was recently asked to decide whether liability could be imposed upon an international air carrier for its refusal to assist a passenger that ultimately died.

Background

In December 1997, Dr. Hanson and his wife traveled from San Francisco to Athens and Cairo for a family vacation. During a layover in New York, the couple learned that the airline permitted smoking on international flights. Because Dr. Hanson suffered from asthma and was sensitive to secondhand smoke, his wife requested seats that were not located near the smoking section.

Despite her requests, on the return flight home, the couple was seated just three rows in front of the economy-class smoking section. Although eleven seats remained unoccupied on the airplane, a flight attendant refused the couple's three separate requests to move away from the smoke-filled area. After nearly two hours aboard the plane, Dr. Hanson moved toward the cockpit to get some less smoky air. He gestured toward his wife for his emergency kit, and his wife summoned an allergist with whom the couple had been traveling. Although the allergist gave Dr. Hanson a shot of epinephrine (adrenaline) and administered CPR and oxygen, Dr. Hanson died shortly thereafter. His wife sued the airline and the case ultimately reached the U.S. Supreme Court.

The Warsaw Convention

Ratified in 1929, the Warsaw Convention is an international law treaty that sets forth uniform rules for the liability of international air transport operators. For example, when "accidents" occur on international flights, the treaty limits the liability of airlines for injuries to passengers or cargo.

The Convention imposes liability upon air carriers "for damage sustained in the event of the death or wounding of a passenger or any other bodily injury suffered by a passenger, if the accident which caused the damage so sustained took place on board the aircraft or in the course of any of the operations of embarking or disembarking." Basically, an airline will be liable for a passenger's death or bodily injury that results from an "accident" on an international flight.

Defining the Term "Accident"

Although the text of the Convention does not define the term "accident," a prior U.S. Supreme Court case (decided in 1985) interpreted the text, structure and history of the Convention to discern its intended meaning. In that case, the Court determined that the term "accident" meant an "unexpected or unusual event or happening that is external to the passenger." Further, the Court stated that the term did not refer to "the passenger's own internal reaction to the usual, normal, and expected operation of the aircraft."

In the current case, the Court basically had to determine whether the air carrier's conduct, namely its "unusual and unexpected refusal to assist a passenger" constituted an accident. After analyzing the rationale underlying the previous decision, the Court ultimately determined that the conduct did constitute an accident and, applying provisions of the Warsaw Convention, held the airline liable for Dr. Hanson's death.