Federal Aviation Act • Operation of the Aircraft. • Preemption • Boarding Passengers
Okeke-Henry v. Southwest Airlines, Co., PICS Case No. 17-0583 (Pa. Super. April 13, 2017) Stabile, J. (10 pages).
Trial court erred in granting judgment on the pleadings and in finding that appellant’s suit for head injuries she received when struck by another passenger’s suitcase while boarding an airplane was preempted by the federal aviation act because the aircraft had not moved from the gate, airline personnel were not involved and there was no basis for concluding that the incident occurred in the course of the operation of the aircraft. Vacated.
