One of the more complex issues in aviation compensation do occur following fatal situations. The need to check the time of death becomes vital in the case of assessing inheritance and concluding who the beneficiaries are.

In one such incident both the husband and wife died in a crash. Now, if the husband had died first the will he left behind would have ensured that the property went to his wife and her heirs. But if she had died first then the will was negated and the assets would accrue to the sons with the mother and her options being ruled out of the equation. Medical investigations showed that while the wife had died of injuries the husband had succumbed to asphyxiation caused by the inhalation of smoke from the post crash fire.

What now had to be quantified was whether the injuries had been instantly fatal or whether the smoke inhalation had occurred during the attempt to escape the aircraft while the husband was still medically alive and in his seat. Since both deaths had occurred within minutes of each other the verdict was that the smoke came after the impact and, therefore, the wife would have died later. By no means was this a fail-safe assumption and there was some attempt made to fight the decision.

What it does illustrate is the awesome legal confusion that can arise from a death on board a scheduled airliner. 4 Births are not much different. Airlines do not like to fly women who are over eight months pregnant, often refusing even those who have crossed seven months. This is especially so when the passenger wishes to go abroad. Contrary to the enthusiastic excitement of airline PR departments sending out press releases about the 'birth on board' there is nothing, romantic or cute about such an event for anybody.

An ordinary delivery can become a crisis in the rarefied cabin atmosphere besides being very messy. If there are complications the airlines become accountable and could even face legal action, the least of it being why they allowed a passenger, in that delicate state to board an aircraft. Passengers in this condition are known to camouflage their pregnancy under heavy clothing and there is very little an airline can do to stop someone who is prepared to take the risk. It is much of a myth that airlines give free tickets to babies born in mid-flight. Absolute nonsense. 

If it wasn't for the PR angle, the managements would like nothing more than to sue the couple for breaking the rules. Both mother and child are endangered but the carrier becomes responsible if things go wrong. It is only in the movies that a bawling brat is born in section C of the cabin and everyone coos over it.

Technically, airlines do have a waiver clause that they can use to disclaim responsibility for infirm passengers or those who are medically unfit. They seldom use it and the patients scarcely ever declare their medical status in advance. Either way, if something were to go wrong, the unpleasantness of it would not be mitigated by any such clauses.

In recent times the little first aid box has been expanded to include fibrillators and at least some of the crew are trained in using them.

Indemnifying doctors who volunteer services on board is another possibility that has not yet been explored fully largely because the doctor’s insurers would  be afraid of malpractice suits in case things however well-intentioned go wrong. How do you prove that an air pocket turbulence caused the medical emergency effort to make things worse.

(Concluded)