Question

Today, a scheduled airline flight on a planned non-stop trip from Berlin, Germany to Calcutta, India crashed while crossing the Himalayas and penetrating a storm meteorologists called the most severe ever recorded in the area. There were no survivors. All nations having any connection to the airline and these passengers have ratified the Montreal Convention. Analyze the complete extent of the airline's liability, if any, for the passenger deaths, explaining your decision process clearly.

Answer 1

As the passengers in the flight were traveling between the two cities of the different countries that is Berlin and Calcutta, so the passengers will be treated as international passengers and thus the liability will be evaluated as per the Montreal Convention.

The defenses in the given case that can be raised by the airline may include the Nature of the goods” or “act of war”, but these are not applicable in the given situation as the warning of the storm meteorologists was ignored. Thus the airline will be having the liability for the deaths of the passengers and thus it has to provide compensation to the relatives and family members of the flying passengers.

The prevailing limits mentioned in SDR’s Special Drawing Rights are almost $141,000 US dollars. The inflation can be accommodated in the final value.