The case of Philomena Dooley, Personal Representative of the Estate of Cecelio Chuapoco, et al. v. Korean Air Lines Co., Ltd., 1997 involved a dispute over jurisdiction and liability for an international airline accident under the Warsaw Convention - an international treaty that governs liability for international carriage of persons, luggage or goods performed by aircraft. The Supreme Court was asked to determine whether U.S courts had jurisdiction over this case involving a plane crash in Guam which resulted in multiple fatalities including Cecelio Chuapoco's death. Korean Air Lines argued that according to Article 28(1) of the Warsaw Convention, plaintiffs could only bring action where the carrier is domiciled, has its principal place of business or has an establishment through which contract was made; none were applicable here as per defendant’s claim. However, court found ambiguity in interpretation and held that "principal place of business" can be interpreted as any location where company conducts substantial amount if not majority portion its business activities; hence US courts have jurisdiction since KAL conducted significant operations within United States.

The dissenting opinion in the case of Philomena Dooley, Personal Representative of the Estate of Cecelio Chuapoco, et al. v. Korean Air Lines Co., Ltd., argued that the majority's interpretation and application of Article 17(1) from Warsaw Convention was incorrect. The dissenters believed that an "accident" under this article should not be limited to unusual or unexpected events external to passengers but also include internal failures within an aircraft if they lead to a passenger’s death or injury during flight operations. They contended that such a broad definition would better align with modern aviation realities and more effectively protect passengers' rights by holding airlines accountable for their negligence leading to accidents on board.