Aviation Law – September 2022

MONTREAL CONVENTION—GUANTANAMO BAY/ARTICLE 57 AND PREEMPTION

Petteway v. Miami Air International Airport, Inc. 2022 WL 4076577.D. Fla. 2022)

Consolidated action by passengers as to a flight in May 2019 from the Naval Station at Guantanamo Bay Cuba to the Naval Air Station in Jacksonville Florida. When the aircraft attempted to land in Jacksonville it veered off the runway and crashed into rock wall and landing in a nearby river. The claimant passengers asserted bodily jury, pain and suffering and mental anguish. The novel issue presented was whether the Montreal Convention or state law controlled which turned on whether the flight constituted a "domestic flight" or "international carriage" under the Convention given the unique status of Guantanamo Bay.