Airports are complex ecosystems with many layers of responsibility and governing authorities. A passenger injured in a large international airport may not know who was even responsible for his accident or injury as airports are typically fragmented into operating authorities responsible for ownership and overall security, separate responsibility allocated to the airline or management company that owns, leases or operates a particular terminal and the subcontractors they employ, or even individual retailers within the terminal.  Even within the same airport, different terminals employ different cleaning and maintenance contractors and different wheelchair or other ground service providers.

Indeed, a passenger’s rights can vary based on where in the terminal or airport the accident occurred and where the passenger is traveling.  Different laws, including the Montreal Convention may control the passenger’s rights to sue if a passenger traveling on an international flight was injured in a secure or sterile zone of the airport as opposed to a domestic traveler who was injured before crossing the TSA checkpoint en route to the boarding gate.  

Even experienced accident lawyers frequently refer airport accident cases to our firm because of the complexity of the laws and liability analysis that applies to accidents that happen either in the airport terminal, during the boarding or disembarking process, in the jetway, or while on the tarmac en route to that passenger’s airplane.

That is why anyone injured in a commercial airport needs the services of airport accident attorneys familiar with airport accident and airport injury law. The airport accident lawyers at Bohrer & Lukeman are experienced with injuries and accidents that occur in both domestic and international airports and are always available to advise you of your rights. Call us at (212) 406-4232 or fill out our contact form today. 

Thousands of serious injuries and accidents occur in airports each year.  Airports are busy environments where thousands of passengers move through simultaneously, often under stressful conditions. Modern large metropolitan airports are growing even bigger and the distances passengers must navigate to get from the ticket counters to their gates are increasing and frequently passengers take light trains, buses, and multiple people mover belts. That, coupled with longer TSA security and screening lines, oversold flights, and rushing to gates, have made airports modern pressure cookers filled with numerous risks for the average traveler and even more hazardous for the more vulnerable.

For some passengers, particularly the aged and handicapped, the most dangerous part of air travel can be in the airport terminal before or after the flight. Escalators, people movers, moving luggage carts and courtesy wagons, slippery floors, and other passengers with luggage create obstacles that can cause serious harm or even death. Additionally, with a growing population of older citizens traveling more often, wheelchairs and their handlers are also a common sight in US and foreign airports.

Unfortunately, this chaotic ecosystem often results in the serious injuries to thousands of passengers per year.  

 At Bohrer & Lukeman, our aviation accident lawyers are also experienced in not only protecting the rights of passengers who were injured during commercial airline flights, but also in representing passengers injured in all aspects of airport accidents. We have recovered millions of dollars for injuries occurring in various parts of the airport terminal, during the boarding and disembarking process and even for passengers injured outside on tarmacs while walking or being transported by buses to airplanes.

We are familiar with and have brought successful lawsuits and used federal laws, including the Montreal Convention Air Carrier Access Act, to get full and fair justice for airline passengers seriously injured not only on airplanes, but for accidents that happened in the airport before and after their flights.  

Often, our clients are the most vulnerable: handicapped and aged clients who requested airport wheelchair service only to be abandoned, forgotten, or dropped by their negligent handlers or “skycaps.” We frequently get calls from children or other relatives of elderly passengers who watched their family member wheeled away toward the TSA security checkpoint and assured they would be safe, only to learn later that their mother or father, grandparent or uncle fell and was seriously injured after their handler forced them to walk the last portion of the journey down the jetway or onto the aircraft on their own.

One of our victories include a significant confidential settlement on behalf of a woman who fell on a slippery floor in a foreign airport due to a leaking roof. She required an air ambulance back to the United States and underwent multiple hip replacements. Interestingly, before hiring us, she sought the help of two other “personal injury” law firms who turned her case down and told her she could not bring a personal injury lawsuit in an American court for an accident that occurred in a foreign airport.

Our airplane accident lawyers also settled an action on behalf of an aged woman who was supposed to be escorted to an airport terminal exit by the airline and sky cap company but was abandoned at the top of an escalator and knocked down by falling luggage. She suffered a broken leg that required surgery to implant a plate and screws, yet the airline denied all liability for this tragically preventable accident.

NOTABLE AIRPORT ACCIDENT AND INJURY RESULTS

  • Multimillion Dollar Confidential settlement pursuant to Montreal Convention for US passengers injured in overseas collapse of airport ambulifter
  • Confidential seven figure settlement pursuant to Montreal Convention for elderly wheelchair passenger injured in overseas airport after being forced to stand up from her wheelchair and walk through security without assistance despite clear instructions on her boarding file that she was in capable of doing so.
  • Confidential wrongful death settlement pursuant to Montreal Convention on behalf of elderly passenger who fell and struck his head after he was ordered to get out of his wheelchair and walk up portable airstairs from the tarmac to the aircraft despite insisting he was unable to do so.
  • Confidential seven figure settlement pursuant to Montreal Convention on behalf of US Passenger injured in overseas airport fall while exiting airplane on portable and improperly positioned airstairs
  • Confidential settlement pursuant to Montreal Convention on behalf of US passenger struck by electric passenger courtesy cart in foreign airport
  • Confidential settlement on behalf of elderly US wheelchair passenger pursuant to Montreal Convention who suffered major cardiac event in foreign airport after she was forced by a wheelchair attendant to climb a steep exterior portable aircraft staircase from the tarmac to the airplane.
  • Confidential settlement pursuant to Montreal Convention on behalf of Ethiopian Airlines passengers suffered leg fractures and required surgery after being knocked down an escalator while disembarking a flight in a foreign airport.
  • Confidential settlement pursuant to Montreal Convention for passenger abandoned by wheelchair attendant who sustained serious leg injuries on JFK airport escalator en route to her gate
  • Confidential settlement pursuant to Montreal Convention of lawsuit on behalf of a passenger who fell on a wet staircase while exiting the aircraft’s exterior staircase from in a foreign airport
  • Confidential settlement on behalf of JetBlue passenger waiting to board flight who was seriously injured after being struck by a food service utility cart being negligently pushed through the gate area.
  • Settlement of claims on behalf of a passenger who slipped and fell in Dubai International Airport Terminal
  • Settled claim for a passenger who fell on the jetway during a chaotic boarding, resulting in fractures requiring surgery

As demonstrated above, injury claims for various airport accidents, even some that occur outside of the United States can be brought in US Courts if the injury occurred as the result of an “accident” as defined by the Montreal Convention and other jurisdictional requirements are met. Many clients and even attorneys wrongly believe that they cannot bring a airport accident lawsuit in the United States because the accident or injury occurred in a foreign airport, however, we have settled cases involving numerous accidents in foreign airports including:

  • Abu Dhabi
  • Dubai
  • Ethiopia
  • France
  • Germany
  • India
  • Italy
  • Jamaica
  • Pakistan
  • Portugal
  • Turkey
  • And numerous other cities and countries

If you or a loved one were injured in any kind of airport accident, call the airport accident lawyers Bohrer & Lukeman today at (212) 406-4232 for a free consultation or fill out our contact form here and one of our airport accident lawyers will be in touch with your shortly.

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In-Flight Injuries