Term: 2003
Docket: 02-1348
Olympic Airways v. Rubina Husain, Individually And As Personal Representative Of The Estate Of Abid M. Hanson, Deceased, Et Al.
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02-1348 OLYMPIC AIRWAYS v. HUSAIN Ruling below: CA 9, 316 F.3d 829. QUESTION PRESENTED Whether the "accident" condition precedent to air carrier liability for a passenger's death under Article 17 of the Warsaw Convention is satisfied when a passenger's pre-existing medical condition is aggravated by exposure to a normal condition in the aircraft cabin, even if the carrier's negligence were a link in the chain of causation? The Ninth Circuit's answer to this question in the affirmative directly conflicts with the Third and Eleventh Circuit decisions in Abramson v. Japan Airlines, Co., Ltd., 739 F.2d 130 (3d Cir. 1984), cert. denied, 470 U.S. 1059 (1985) and Krys v. Lufthansa German Airlines, 119 F.3d 1515 (llth Cir. 1997), cert. denied, 522 U.S. 1111 (1998), and is contrary to the Court's decision in Air France v. Saks, 470 U.S. 392 (1985). CERT. GRANTED: 5/27/03 J. Breyer took no part
In the 2003 case Olympic Airways v. Rubina Husain, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of Husain, who sued Olympic Airways for wrongful death after her husband died during a flight due to exposure to secondhand smoke. Dr. Abid Hanson had requested a non-smoking seat due to his severe sensitivity to cigarette smoke but was seated directly behind the smoking section on an international flight from Greece to California and subsequently suffered fatal respiratory failure as a result of prolonged exposure. The court held that under Article 17 of the Warsaw Convention - which governs liability for injuries sustained onboard aircraft - airlines are liable if they fail "to take all necessary measures" within their control that could prevent passenger injury or death, even if such harm is not caused by an accident per se but rather by conditions on board.
In the dissenting opinion for Olympic Airways v. Rubina Husain, Justice Scalia argued that the majority's interpretation of Article 17 of the Warsaw Convention was incorrect. He contended that "accident" should be defined as an unexpected or unusual event external to the passenger, not a chain of events leading up to injury or death. In this case, Dr. Hanson’s death resulted from his own internal reaction (asthma attack) to ordinary conditions in the aircraft cabin (cigarette smoke), which according to Scalia did not constitute an accident under Article 17. Furthermore, he disagreed with extending liability beyond what was agreed upon by signatories of international treaties like Warsaw Convention and believed it would lead airlines into unpredictable liabilities.
