Blake Lapthorn client in aeroplane 'accident' Court of Appeal
ruling
Blake Lapthorn, one of the leading law firms in the UK, is
acting for the claimant in this case, where the Court of Appeal has
today ruled that a British Airways passenger who was injured while
boarding a plane did not have an 'accident' as required by the
Montreal Convention.
Importantly, this is the first time that the Court of Appeal has
been asked to determine the meaning of the word 'accident' in the
context of the Montreal Convention. This international Convention
provides the exclusive remedy for anyone suffering an accident on
board an aeroplane. To succeed in a claim, the passenger's bodily
injury must have been caused by an 'accident' within the meaning of
the Montreal Convention.
The claimant, Mrs Barclay, is being represented by Spencer
Baker, senior solicitor in Blake Lapthorn's Personal Injury team.
Mrs Barclay was trying to get into her seat on the Boeing 747 and,
in doing so, had to lean backwards as the seats in front were
reclined and injured her knee as a result of slipping on a plastic
strip. Although what happened would seem to fit the normal meaning
of the word 'accident', the Court of Appeal decided, relying on
previous authority, otherwise.
The Court of Appeal stated that the terms within the Montreal
Convention had to be considered autonomously because it was an
international trade law convention. Consistency of approach
worldwide was important and relying on a definition from a US
Supreme Court judgment effectively upheld the view that an accident
had to be an unexpected and unusual event, external to the
passenger and not attributable to the normal operation of the
aircraft.
Said Daniel
Scognamiglio, senior solicitor in Blake
Lapthorn's Travel team: "The decision, whilst upholding the status
quo, produces a number of anomalous outcomes. For example,
deliberate terrorist or passenger activity that causes injury would
constitute an accident. Tripping over a bag left in the aisle would
also constitute an accident in the UK but not in the US. Similarly,
if some aspect of an aircraft that causes injury can be
demonstrated to be inherently dangerous, but is nevertheless
compliant with airline regulations and a normal part of the
aircraft, there will be no accident within the Montreal
Convention."
Permission is currently being sought to appeal to the House of
Lords.
