Many Americans have a fear of flying. However, airplanes provide an incredibly convenient way to travel long distances in a short amount of time. As a result, many individuals work to process their fear of flying in ways that allow them to travel by plane.
Commercial airplane crashes are very rare. Americans are far more likely to suffer injuries in a motor vehicle accident than they are in an aviation accident. Unfortunately, a fear of flying may be otherwise well-founded. There are numerous ways that travelers may be harmed during the course of airplane travel. Once harmed, individuals may be able to seek compensation for their injuries. However, it would be ideal if injurious airplane-related harm never occurred in the first place.
Experiencing mild air turbulence is common while flying. Turbulence is often beyond the control of any given plane’s pilot. However, under certain circumstances, passengers may be able to recover compensation if they are genuinely harmed as a result of turbulence. Similarly, passengers may sometimes be able to recover compensation if they are harmed by falling luggage.
If an employee of an airline is negligent in some way and harms a passenger as a result, that passenger may be able to recover damages. For example, if a flight attendant is not paying attention and spills hot coffee on a passenger and burns him or her, the passenger may be able to hold the flight attendant accountable for that negligence.
Whether or not one can recover depends on the unique circumstances of the case in question. An experienced attorney should be able to give you an idea of whether or not the unique circumstances of your case may result in recovery.
Source: Findlaw Injured, “Injured on an Airplane: How Can You Recover?” Brett Snider, Dec. 12, 2014
