DOHSA HELD TO APPLY TO AIRLINE INCIDENT IN FOREIGN TERRITORIAL WATERS SO AS TO PRECLUDE PUNITIVE DAMAGE RECOVERY
IN RE AIR CRASH DISASTER NEAR PEGGY'S COVE, NOVA SCOTIA ON SEPTEMBER 2, 1998
MDL NO. 1269 THIS DOCUMENT RELATES TO: ALL CASES
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF PENNSYLVANIA
2002 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3309
February 27, 2002, Filed
PROCEDURAL POSTURE: Plaintiffs, the heirs of passengers killed in a plane crash within the territorial waters of Canada, filed several actions against defendants, the airline companies and the manufacturers, to recover for the deaths. The cases were transferred to the court for coordinated and consolidated pretrial proceedings. The airlines and the manufacturers moved to dismiss the punitive damages claims.
OVERVIEW: The airlines and the manufacturers argued that the punitive damages claims were precluded by the Death on the High Seas Act (DOHSA), 46 U.S.C.S. app. § 761 et seq., because the 2000 amendments to the DOHSA demonstrated that the term high seas was to be given a geographic meaning. The heirs argued that in enacting the 2000 amendments, Congress intended to adopt the definition of high seas as developed in the most recent case law prior to the passage of the amendments. The court found that the DOHSA, as amended, applied to aviation incidents in foreign territorial waters because the case law cited by the heirs did not address whether the DOHSA applied to foreign territorial waters. Rather, the decision was limited to whether the DOHSA applied to domestic waters between three and 12 miles from the shores of the United States. Since the amended DOHSA did not allow recovery for punitive damages, 46 U.S.C.S. app. § 762(b)(1), the airlines' and the manufacturers' motion to dismiss all claims for punitive damages under United States law was granted.
OUTCOME:The motion to dismiss the punitive damages claims was granted.
