In
October 2012, we reviewed the Ontario Superior Court of
Justice's decision in Gontcharov v. Canjet, 2012 ONSC 2279.
The Gontcharov decision affirmed the Ontario court's
alignment with the U.S. approach to interpreting the word
"accident" in Article 17 of the Montreal
Convention. Citing the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Air France v. Saks, 470 U.S. 392, 105
S. Ct. 1338 (1985), Ontario's Justice J. Wilson stated, at
para. 47, "The term "accident" used in art. 17 of
the Convention has been consistently interpreted to mean "an
unexpected or unusual event or happening that is external to the
passenger"."
In January 2015, the U.S. District Court (S.D. Florida) released
its decision in Vanderwall v. United Airlines, 2015
WL 309094 (S.D. Fla.). The Court similarly followed Saks for its
interpretation of "accident", noting that "not every
incident or occurrence during a flight is an accident within the
meaning of Article 17 even if the incident gives rise to an
injury."
