FORD V MALAYSIAN AIRLINE SYSTEMS BERHAD

[2013] EWCA Civ 1163, Court of Appeal, Civil Division, Lord Justice Maurice Kay, Vice President of the Court of Appeal, Civil Division, Lord Justice Leveson and Lord Justice Aikens, 27 September 2013

Aviation - Passenger suffering from pre-existing condition injected by other passenger doctor - Whether accident for the purposes of the Montreal Convention - Montreal Convention 1999

This was a claim by a passenger on an international commercial flight for damages for bodily injury resulting from accident. Mrs Ford suffered pre-existing physical discomfort caused by fluid retention resulting from urethral stenosis. On the flight, she was injected with a diuretic by a doctor who was a fellow passenger. The injection (it was assumed for present purposes) exacerbated her physical discomfort. The question for decision was whether the injection constituted an accident for the purposes of article 17.1 of the Montreal Convention 1999 "for the Unification of Certain Rules for International Carriage by Air" ("the Montreal Convention"). At first instance, the judge held that it did not.