Qantas passengers thought they were going to die

[red750]

Story and pictures

[BLA82]

FFS people dramatise situations

 

 

[johnm]

wow ....... they all survived ! .............. lucky

 

 

[poteroo]

What's changed - it's very normal to feel that way after the 'redeye' from Perth!

 

happy days,

 

 

[Methusala]

We often travel with "2nd order" carriers in Asia, such as Air Asia or Tiger. Some people who appear to know it all question our decisions. They don't recall incidents such as the Qantas Link Dash 8 that lost a propeller in flight FFS near Bundaberg among many other potentially disastrous events. Flying RPT is simply the safest way to travel and all recognised carriers operate very safely in absolute terms. Very occasionally something goes wrong. A million ways that an aeroplane can kill you.

 

 

[alf jessup]

Well unless you portray you were thinking you were going to die how else are you going to try and get easy money out of the airline

 

 

[johnm]

interesting comment Alf

 

do you think there'd be actual compo paid for the passengers stressful event ? (I mean actual - not the guff about litigious world, spec legal action etc)

 

.................... these events would have happened before - compo actually paid ?

 

 

[alf jessup]

interesting comment Alfdo you think there'd be actual compo paid for the passengers stressful event ? (I mean actual - not the guff about litigious world, spec legal action etc)

.................... these events would have happened before - compo actually paid ?

John,It was an off the cuff comment being that people will try anything these days to get a free dollar and I wouldn’t doubt it if a passenger or 3 on this flight tried it out.

 

Just me and my sarcasm at play

 

 

[johnm]

thanks Alf

 

........w'ell see if anyone has heard of compo with such events ?

 

 

[Jaba-who]

thanks Alf........w'ell see if anyone has heard of compo with such events ?

Are you seriously asking?.The lawyers all crow about their successes on their websites. Just google Carter Capner and airline compensation. They have a list of cases they have they are claiming success on that takes about three pages.

 

These include turbulence as well as engine problems. The payouts they claim extend from injuries etc to basically inconveniences and psychological distress.

 

 

[johnm]

......... quiet serious

 

A judge would have to make allownces for a level of acceptable unknowns - decmpression - turbulence - flat tyres ?

 

I was merely asking if anyone had some examples of $ and circumstances of payment from airlines (its probably all a very well kept secret)

 

....... reading legal blurb from a solicitors website might be a drag

 

 

[Roundsounds]

What a load of crap! At no time was anyone at risk and the crew would have made a PA explaining they were descending to a safe altitude. The fact that some people watch too many crap TV shows about aircraft incidents doesn’t warrant compo.

 

 

[Cornay]

“Qantas passengers thought they were going to die”

 

That’s quite funny.

 

So far in the history of humanity, it’s pretty much a 100% given that everybody will die.

 

No surprises here, move along please and find another way to sell a newspaper.

 

 

[Jaba-who]

......... quiet seriousA judge would have to make allownces for a level of acceptable unknowns - decmpression - turbulence - flat tyres ?

I was merely asking if anyone had some examples of $ and circumstances of payment from airlines (its probably all a very well kept secret)

 

....... reading legal blurb from a solicitors website might be a drag

So in answer to your question.Yes they have have been sued.

 

Yes they have been found negligent and yes money paid out.

 

 

[octave]

So in answer to your question.Yes they have have been sued.Yes they have been found negligent and yes money paid out.

Can you provide links to cases?

" But in 2013 the rights to damages for anything other than bodily injuries were stripped away for domestic air travellers by Australia falling into line with a Montreal Convention exclusion of personal or mental traumas for the survivors of international air crashes. (This wasn’t material for Ms Casey as her flight started in Samoa and WAS considered international. However it was the realisation that Australia’s actions had now put all domestic flyers in the same position as Ms Casey found herself that drove much of tonight’s Four Corners edition.)"

 

Pel-Air shock, no trauma damages recourse for victims - Plane Talking

 

 

[facthunter]

A modest knowledge of how pressurisation works would have put what was happening in perspective. An emergency descent is REQUIRED when something affects the operation of the system and cabin pressure (of around 8 psi) can't be reliably maintained. The folder in the back of each seat does explain all this but no one reads them or listens to the preflight briefing, .apparently. where it's all covered.

 

At 10,000 feet where you level off, you are going to get a pretty "normal" flight but it will be slower and you use more fuel. Fuel from the depressurised PNR has to be carried on all flights.by law. Nev

 

 

[Jaba-who]

Can you provide links to cases?" But in 2013 the rights to damages for anything other than bodily injuries were stripped away for domestic air travellers by Australia falling into line with a Montreal Convention exclusion of personal or mental traumas for the survivors of international air crashes. (This wasn’t material for Ms Casey as her flight started in Samoa and WAS considered international. However it was the realisation that Australia’s actions had now put all domestic flyers in the same position as Ms Casey found herself that drove much of tonight’s Four Corners edition.)"

Pel-Air shock, no trauma damages recourse for victims - Plane Talking

Google Carter Capner Law and follow links to airline compensation. They have pages and pages of cases they claim they successfully sought compensation for passengers.

They outline cases of injury, inconvenience, turbulence and similar.

 

Unless they are lying about the cases. But you have to assume they are being truthful.

 

 

[johnm]

I would of thought; since we circulate in aviation circles that any / some compo payments to passengers would be common knowledge / or at least discussed

 

............ be good to see some examples of payment (if you're going to climb into a tube and fly at 300 knots with extendable wheels and a pot of hot coffee ......... there are some known risks before you buy the ticket)

 

 

[octave]

Google Carter Capner Law and follow links to airline compensation. They have pages and pages of cases they claim they successfully sought compensation for passengers.They outline cases of injury, inconvenience, turbulence and similar.Unless they are lying about the cases. But you have to assume they are being truthful.

Can't really find any cases similar to this Qantas event. The only cases I can find are regarding physical injury or phycological trauma associated with physical injury. Based on what I have read it is very unlikely that any of these Qantas passengers would have a case.

According to the Montreal Convention, Sanger says, a passenger injured during a flight must prove just two things to be eligible for compensation: he or she was traveling on an international itinerary, and there was an accident.

 

An accident is defined as an “unusual or unexpected event external to the passenger” and can occur during pre-flight activities and when disembarking, as well. Light turbulence does not count, but severe turbulence—like that experienced last month on an United Airlines flight from Houston to London—does. Beyond turbulence, hot coffee spilling on a passenger during a choppy ride, overhead items falling on a customer’s head, or glass found in a salad are all real life examples of in-flight accidents governed by the Montreal Convention. “I had a client whose finger was cut off when someone else pushed the button to raise their seat,” Sanger says.

 

Passengers looking to get reimbursed can seek payment by appealing directly to the airline. If the carrier doesn't pay, the passenger's other option is to file a lawsuit. They can expect to at least be compensated for the total of their medical and treatment bills. (One of Sanger's clients received more than $1 million for a broken neck.) Of course, there are caveats. The pain and suffering must be physical, as case law no longer favors a passenger who may have suffered mental or emotional trauma from a particularly rocky flight.

 

To receive money for injuries sustained during turbulence on a domestic flight, a person must prove that the airline was negligent, which requires a lot more evidence, expert testimony, and witnesses. This additional legal work means the injured passenger could end up paying more in lawyer fees than what he or she would win from a trial, making litigation an unattractive option.

 

Injured Because of Turbulence? You Can Get Money For That

 

 

[johnm]

interesting how clear air turbulence (CAT) could be used to gain compo ................. I thought CAT was unpredictable

 

I guess if in CAT, you were wearing your seatbelt, the seat fixings broke and you got an injury you'd have a chance at compo

 

I can only guess that the chance of compo payment is a rare thing (or a good well kept secret)

 

 

[facthunter]

You should keep your seatbelt fastened at all possible times. (unless you want to move about). You are moving at 480 knots so it's always possible to get thrown around. fairly violently.. When the seatbelt sign goes off you hear all the seatbelts being unbuckled. madness.The "ordinary " person is becoming fairly ignorant of all but a few things they specialise in . . If something bad happens, SUE someone. That's NOT the answer. Prevention beats repair or money to fix something that cannot be fixed like it was before. Nev