News & Advice

How to Get Compensated for Severe Turbulence

If you're on an international flight, you have a better chance of getting paid.
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Turbulence is as much a part of the flying experience as the beverage cart wheeling down the aisle. But when bumpy rides result in injury, U.S. travelers have a better chance of getting the airline to cover their medical bills if the accident occurs during an international flight than on a domestic one.

That’s because the Montreal Convention, an agreement signed in 1999 between several nations that provides the legal framework for airlines carrying passengers across borders, is more passenger-friendly than the United States’s own rules. With a rash of flights recently sending passengers to the hospital following severe turbulence injuries, legal experts say many injured flyers could be leaving money on the table.

“There are many things that happen on these international flights that hurt people and cause them difficulty, and I don’t know that they are always aware of the compensation possibilities,” says Ladd Sanger of Texas-based law firm Slack & Davis, who represents passengers in aviation-related lawsuits.

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.

While recent events have garnered news coverage, the number of passengers injured on U.S. flights is not rising, according to the last 14 years of FAA reporting. The best advice to avoid injury and medical bills when flying domestically? Fasten your seat belt.