airplane injuries

Imagine: you are on your way to your vacation destination, flying over the ocean, when the flight attendant goes to get a blanket for another passenger from the overhead compartment. They open it up, and out falls a full luggage case right on your head.

You now have a concussion, you need medical treatment in a foreign country, your vacation is ruined, and you may be off work when you get back.

This situation develops more often than one would think, but the problem for passengers is who and where can they sue to get compensation when they were hurt flying over the middle of the ocean?

To deal with this jurisdictional headache, an international treaty was agreed to by most countries on the planet called the Montreal Convention. In Canada it has been legislated by the Carriage by Air Act.

The law allows the hurt person to sue the airline in their home jurisdiction, with set terms of liability and compensation. Many airlines will deny liability and try to say it is not their fault, but the law allows you to get compensation so long as you can prove that you were physically injured by an unexpected event on the plane (or in the process of on- and off-boarding), and that event was external to yourself.

The airlines will deny liability and hope that people will give up and let the limitation period pass. Don’t let them bully you! If you were injured on an international flight you are entitled to have your treatment expenses covered, your lost wages reimbursed, and compensation for having to live with pain. Contact our firm today to get the litigation stick you need to force the airline into giving you what you are owed.