When Commercial Airlines Are at Fault for Injuries

Incidents involving passenger removal from airplanes tend to cause some serious turbulence—videos go viral and stocks drop, while airlines may reconsider their policies.

One thing that hasn’t changed? The limited scope of airline passengers’ rights.

“It’s become fairly evident that airlines have broad discretion to refuse to let passengers board and to take them off the plane,” says Erin Applebaum, who handles airline injury cases for Kreindler & Kreindler in New York City. “As fare-paying passengers, we like to think we have a lot of rights, but the airlines are in charge here. Make no mistake about it.”

Airline Employees and Flight Attendants Can Boot You

In April 2017, after David Dao was forcibly removed from a United Airlines seat at Chicago’s O’Hare Airport, the video of the incident was viewed millions of times and became part of the national conversation.

If you ever face such a situation, premises liability attorneys say it pays to go quietly — literally; you could face fines of up to $25,000 if you are deemed “unruly.” Ninety-two passengers were deemed so in 2016, says the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), and more than 300 in years prior. According to regulations: “No person may assault, threaten, intimidate or interfere with a crewmember in the performance of [their] duties aboard an aircraft.”

“There have always been confrontations on airplanes,” Applebaum says. “I personally was witness to a fistfight on a plane when I was in law school. We just didn’t have people taping it on their phones and putting it on social media.” 

If you find yourself being asked to leave an airplane by the flight crew, Applebaum’s advice is simple: “Do what the airline says. I know it may seem like the airline is being unfair or treating you poorly, but you’re not going to win that fight.” She says it’s best to wait until you’re off the plane to address the situation. “Dr. Dao was very lucky that his altercation was caught on tape at exactly the right moment,” she adds. “I can’t say that the same thing would have happened if it had not been taped and put online. I think that if this were a situation where there was no video evidence of what had occurred, the airline would have tried to fight it a little harder.” 

The High Standard for Flight Injuries

The same goes for injuries sustained on a flight—be it those from turbulence, a fall in the jetway, or items falling from overhead bins. 

Manhattan attorney Jonathan Reiter handles a variety of airline injury cases, including crashes. “We had one where a pilot had a mental breakdown mid-flight,” Reiter says. “He came out of the cockpit and was raving about al-Qaeda and so forth. We represented 30 people on that flight for emotional distress sustained from fear of impending death.”

Often, these cases rely on a proving negligence claim—that someone or something did not operate correctly, breaching the airline’s duty of care. “Airlines very rarely will admit that they did anything wrong, and most people don’t know that they have legal recourse,” says Applebaum. “What [people] tend to do is reach out to the airline, file a complaint, get offered a few thousand frequent flier miles and take it because they don’t know of any other options.”

Avoid Signing Waivers in Exchange for Compensation

Personal injury attorneys advise that you never sign a waiver or release in exchange for compensation since it could damage your case for further benefits. 

“It’s a good idea to find counsel that has experience in this area because there are a lot of twists and turns in aviation law,” Reiter says. “They can also help you get through the shock and trauma of what’s happened to you.”

Avoid Making Statements to the Airline Following Injury

Reiter also says to avoid making any statements to the airline following an injury. “They typically come in under the guise of being helpful, but they know they’re going to be sued so they try to lay a groundwork to defend themselves.”

With the increased awareness of incidents like Dao’s, airlines are under increased scrutiny. “That really raised awareness of just how insensitive they can be,” Reiter says. “But it took tremendous embarrassment and trauma to bring this to the public eye and cause change.” The changes, thankfully, favor passengers. “If you see an airline in headlines, you can be sure passengers are winning in the court of public opinion,” Applebaum says. 

Find an Experienced Attorney

For more information on this area of law, visit the Super Lawyers directory to find an experienced aviation accident lawyer in your area for legal advice about your potential legal claims and next steps.