I cut my little finger on a flight. I want over 50k compensation.

That is due to the fact that liability for injuries on a flight is primarily governed by the Montreal Convention of 1999 for international travel. This imposes “strict liability” on airlines for “accidents” on board. This means you don’t have to prove negligence. It’s enough to simply establish that an unexpected or unusual event external to the passenger resulted in injury. There is an upper limit for a claim under this convention, currently around £133,000. If the accident is more serious you can still sue the airline but if you’re outside the convention, you will need to prove negligence.

Andrew Chesterton’s little finger was caught on something sharp between the seats. Exactly how serious the cut was is not known, but frankly even if his little finger had been completely severed (and it wasn’t) he’d be hard pushed to justify damages of such an amount. However, the victim has apparently been suffering “flashbacks and nightmares” so is presumably seeking the bulk of the damages for “psychiatric injury”. Although having no real choice but to accept liability, B.A. is not surprisingly contesting the amount of damages claimed.

This case causes me to share my own rather traumatic (but in retrospect also quite funny, at least to my wife) in flight accident experience.

On a flight back from Athens some years back I was allocated one of those seats right at the front with no drop-down table. I ordered a coffee and as the stewardess was handing it to me, she dropped it right in my lap. I’m told the instinctive yell that emerged was as if a dog was being spayed without anaesthetic. Naturally, my immediate concern was for the crown jewels. Luckily, the toilet cubicle was feet away and was mercifully unoccupied.  I was already yanking  down my trousers  even before I got inside the cubicle. My wife is a doctor, so hurriedly joined me in the cubicle to apply cold water to the affected area, bottles being supplied (no charge) by the naturally concerned stewardess who had caused the drama. Goodness knows what the passengers further down the plane thought might be going on!

Eventually the intense pain settled somewhat. There was some resultant scarring that lingered for a few months  but eventually disappeared and thankfully no “functional” damage.

Of course, I sued the airline but being an honest sort of chap didn’t even think of embellishing the claim with psychological sequelae. I  received a modest sum that at least paid for the entire holiday.  The one lasting consequence is that I have never once since that day ordered a coffee on a flight. Strictly gin and tonics these days. So every cloud has a silver lining!