Olympic Airways v. Husain

Dr. Abid Hanson died from exposure to secondhand smoke on an Olympic Airways flight from Athens, Greece to New York City. He had been allergic to secondhand smoke for more than 20 years. For the flight, Hanson requested a non-smoking seat and was seated three rows in front of the smoking section, which was not separated by a partition. Hanson complained that the smoke was affecting his breathing and his wife, Rubina Husain, informed a flight attendant of Hanson’s medical condition and asked the attendant three times, with increasing urgency, for Hanson to be moved further away from the smokers. The flight attendant refused, erroneously stating that the flight was full. Hanson went to the front of the cabin to get some fresh air, where he died after being treated with shots, oxygen and CPR. An autopsy was not performed for religious reasons, but the district court determined that smoke exposure during the flight was the primary cause of death. Article 17 of the Warsaw Convention establishes that an air carrier is liable for the death of a passenger caused by an accident on board the plane. The district court found that the flight attendant’s repeated refusal to move Hanson to another seat fell under the definition of an accident, as an unexpected or unusual event external to the passenger. The court found that Hanson’s death was not the result of Hanson’s own internal reaction to the usual and expected operation of the plane, because it could not have been expected that the flight attendant would violate industry standards and Olympic policy by failing to accommodate Husain’s request for her husband to be moved. The court of appeals affirmed.

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 was a link in the chain of causation.

Decision under Review