The July 6, 2013, crash of Asiana Airlines Flight 214 is the first major airline accident in the United States to invoke the Montreal Convention,1 the 1999 treaty that establishes rules governing suits involving injuries and deaths aboard international flights. The Asiana flight was carrying 291 passengers and 16 crew members when it crashed on a sunny and clear day while attempting to land at San Francisco International Airport. The wide-body Boeing 777 airplane struck a seawall at the approach end of the runway and broke apart, causing the main fuselage, including the passenger cabin, to spin down the runway until it came to rest about 2,000 feet away. The crash killed three passengers and injured numerous other passengers and crew members.
The Montreal Convention alters the tort landscape in several significant respects: It establishes a presumptive rule making airlines liable for unlimited damages; bars punitive damages and damages for purely emotional injuries unaccompanied by physical harm; and it imposes strict jurisdictional requirements. The convention applies only to actions against airlines and not to other potentially responsible actors, such as aviation manufacturers or air traffic control.
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