In re Air Crash Disaster Near Peggy's Cove, Nova Scotia on September 2, 1998

210 F. Supp. 2d 570 (2002)

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In re Air Crash Disaster Near Peggy’s Cove, Nova Scotia on September 2, 1998

United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania
210 F. Supp. 2d 570 (2002)

Facts

Swissair (defendant) operated a flight from New York to Geneva, Switzerland that crashed near Nova Scotia, within Canada’s territorial waters. The crash killed all passengers and crew on board (plaintiffs). Wrongful-death lawsuits were filed in United States courts against a variety of defendants and consolidated into a multidistrict litigation for pretrial proceedings. Several airlines and manufacturers (defendants) collectively moved for summary judgment on any claims for punitive damages for the death of United States residents, arguing that (1) the federal Death on the High Seas Act applied and controlled which remedies were available for wrongful-death claims for the crash victims who were United States residents and (2) the act did not allow punitive damages for those claims. The claimants argued that the act did not apply to this crash because the crash occurred in a foreign country’s territorial waters, not the international waters commonly referred to as the high seas.

Rule of Law

Issue

Holding and Reasoning (Giles, C.J.)

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