Seguritan v. Northwest Airlines, Inc.
| Decision Date | 29 January 1982 |
| Citation | 86 A.D.2d 658,446 N.Y.S.2d 397 |
| Parties | Reuben S. SEGURITAN, as Executor of the Estate of Christeta B. Santiago, deceased, Respondent, v. NORTHWEST AIRLINES, INC., Appellant. |
| Court | New York Supreme Court — Appellate Division |
John M. Downing, New York City (Thomas E. Mehrtens, Yonkers, of counsel), for appellant.
Speiser & Krause, P. C., New York City (Rudolph V. Pino, Jr., New Rochelle, of counsel), for respondent.
Before MOLLEN, P. J., and LAZER, COHALAN and THOMPSON, JJ.
MEMORANDUM BY THE COURT.
In an action to recover damages for wrongful death and conscious pain and suffering, defendant appeals from an order of the Supreme Court, Queens County, dated June 1, 1981, which denied its motion seeking (1) dismissal of the complaint on the ground that it was barred by the applicable provisions of the Warsaw Convention, and (2) summary judgment in favor of defendant.
Order reversed, on the law, without costs or disbursements, summary judgment granted, and complaint dismissed.
Plaintiff's decedent is alleged to have suffered a heart attack, while she was a passenger on defendant's flight No. 003 from New York to Manila on May 23, 1976. It is contended that as a result of the failure of defendant's employees to provide medical assistance, the decedent's condition deteriorated to such an irreversible state by the time of arrival in Manila, that emergency care at a hospital there was futile, and she died on May 26, 1976.
Plaintiff filed a copy of the summons with the Queens County Clerk on May 19, 1978 and thereafter, on June 30, 1978, served a summons and complaint upon defendant, pursuant to CPLR 203 (subd. par. 5).
The flight in question was indisputably an international flight within the terms of the Warsaw Convention, as supplemented by the Montreal Agreement (49 U.S.Stat. 3000, T.S. No. 876; U.S.Code, tit. 49, § 1502 note), which is a major international treaty governing the rights and responsibilities of passengers, shippers and carriers in certain aspects of international air transportation (Rosman v. Trans World Airlines, 34 N.Y.2d 385, 358 N.Y.S.2d 97, 314 N.E.2d 848; Kahn v. Trans World Airlines, 82 A.D.2d 696, 443 N.Y.S.2d 79). The Convention's primary objective was to establish uniform rules relating to air transportation documents and to limit the liability of air carriers in the event of an accident (Rosman v. Trans World Airlines, supra; Eck v. United Arab Airlines, 15 N.Y.2d 53, 255 N.Y.S.2d 249, 203 N.E.2d 640; Kahn v. Trans World Airlines, supra).
Where the international flight falls within the Convention "then the Convention has automatic full impact, by its own terms" (Ross v. Pan American Airways, 299 N.Y. 88, 97, 85 N.E.2d 880, cert. den. sub nom Froman v. Pan Amer. Airways, 349 U.S. 947, 75 S.Ct. 874, 99 L.Ed. 1273; see, also, Egan v. Kollsman Instrument Corp., 21 N.Y.2d 160, 287 N.Y.S.2d 14, 234 N.E.2d 199, cert. den. 390 U.S. 1039, 88 S.Ct. 1636, 20 L.Ed.2d 301).
Article 17 of the Convention states that:
"The carrier shall be liable for damage sustained in the event of the death or wounding of a passenger or any other bodily injury suffered by a passenger, if the accident which caused the damage so sustained took place on board the aircraft or in the course of any of the operations of embarking or disembarking."
The incident in question is clearly an "accident" within the meaning of article 17. The "accident" is not the heart attack suffered by the decedent. Rather, it is the alleged aggravation of decedent's condition by the negligent failure of defendant's employees to render her medical assistance. This is somewhat analogous to the hijacking cases where the "accident" which caused the injury is not the act of the hijackers but the alleged failure of the carrier to provide adequate security (see Rosman v. Trans World Airlines, supra).
Thus, this case falls squarely within the terms and...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Fulop v. Malev Hungarian Airlines
... ... See Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 255, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986) ... The moving party ... 366; Walker v. Eastern Air Lines, Inc., 775 F.Supp. 111 (S.D.N.Y.1991); Fischer v. Northwest Airlines, Inc., 623 F.Supp. 1064 (N.D.Ill.1985). See also Carey v. United Airlines, 255 F.3d ... 58. See Seguritan v. Northwest Airlines, Inc., 86 A.D.2d 658, 446 N.Y.S.2d 397, 398 (N.Y.App. Div.2d Dept.), aff'd, ... ...
-
McDowell v. Continental Airlines, Inc.
...Trust Company v. American Airlines, 142 Ill.App.3d 21, 491 N.E.2d 417, 96 Ill.Dec. 371 (1985). Cf. Seguritan v. Northwest Airlines, Inc., 86 A.D.2d 658, 446 N.Y.S.2d 397 (N.Y.App.Div.) (finding aggravation of heart attack by airlines's alleged negligent failure to render medical assistance ......
-
Clark v. Abbott Laboratories
...for the service of a summons, but it does not extend a time period which constitutes a condition precedent (see, Seguritan v. Northwest Airlines, 86 A.D.2d 658, 446 N.Y.S.2d 397, affd 57 N.Y.2d 767, 454 N.Y.S.2d 991, 440 N.E.2d 1339; Savino v. Demiglia, 133 A.D.2d 389, 519 N.Y.S.2d 384; S &......
-
Gupta v. Austrian Airlines
...passenger was unconscious and bleeding as a result of turbulence constituted an "accident"); Seguritan v. Northwest Airlines, Inc., 86 A.D.2d 658, 658, 446 N.Y.S.2d 397 (N.Y.App.Div.1982) (finding that airline crew's alleged failure to provide medical assistance after passenger suffered a h......
-
Chapter § 2A.04 AIR CARRIER LIABILITY
...293 A.D.2d 576, 740 N.Y.S.2d 434 (2002) (unreasonable response to heart attack may be accident); Seguritan v. Northwest Airlines, Inc., 86 A.D.2d 658, 446 N.Y.S.2d 397 (1982) (inadequate response of flight crew to passenger's heart attack aggravated condition and may be an accident).[268] S......