Airline Injury Compensation: Accidents, Deadlines, and Damages

If an airline injured you, you can claim medical expenses, lost wages, and pain and suffering, but the rules governing airline injury compensation split sharply along one line: was the flight international or domestic? On international routes covered by the Montreal Convention, the airline is automatically on the hook for proven damages up to 151,880 Special Drawing Rights (about $206,000 at early-2026 exchange rates), with no need to prove fault. Above that figure, or on a domestic U.S. flight, you have to show the airline was negligent. And on international claims, a two-year deadline extinguishes the right to sue if you miss it.

International Flights Under the Montreal Convention

The Montreal Convention governs injury claims on international flights between the more than 130 countries that have ratified it, including the United States. Article 17 makes an airline liable when a passenger suffers bodily injury or death from an “accident” on board or while boarding or leaving the aircraft.¹

Liability runs in two tiers. In the first tier, the airline cannot dispute responsibility for proven damages up to the SDR threshold. In the second tier, for amounts above that limit, the airline escapes liability only by proving the damage was not caused by its own negligence, or was caused entirely by a third party.

The threshold is not static. ICAO reviews it every five years for inflation, and the current figure, effective December 28, 2024, is 151,880 SDRs.² The SDR is a basket currency maintained by the International Monetary Fund; as of early 2026, one SDR is worth roughly $1.36, putting the cap at about $206,000.³

One important boundary: Article 29 bars punitive, exemplary, or any other non-compensatory damages in international airline injury cases.¹ No matter how reckless the airline’s behavior, recovery is limited to actual losses.

Domestic Flights and the Common Carrier Duty

Flights within the United States are not covered by the Montreal Convention. Injured passengers file under state tort law, and airlines are held to the heightened duty of care that applies to common carriers: the utmost care and diligence for passenger safety, a higher bar than what a typical business owes its customers.

To recover, you have to prove the airline was negligent, meaning it failed to meet that duty and the failure caused your injury. There is no automatic first-tier liability. The trade-off is that domestic claims carry no treaty-imposed cap on compensatory damages, and juries can award punitive damages when the conduct is egregious.

What Counts as a Compensable Accident

Not every injury on a plane leads to compensation. Under the Montreal Convention, the airline is liable only when an “accident” causes the harm. In Air France v. Saks, the U.S. Supreme Court defined an accident as an unexpected or unusual event that is external to the passenger.⁴ An injury caused by the passenger’s own internal reaction to normal flight conditions, such as ear damage from routine cabin pressurization, does not qualify.

Events that typically do qualify: objects falling from overhead bins, beverage cart collisions, sudden severe turbulence that throws unbuckled passengers from their seats, and slip-and-fall incidents from spilled liquids. The common thread is that something outside the passenger’s own body went wrong in a way that does not happen during normal operations.

Pre-Existing Conditions

A prior medical condition does not disqualify a claim. If an in-flight accident aggravates it, the airline is responsible for the additional harm. What matters is showing a measurable change: increased pain, reduced function, new symptoms, or treatment that was not necessary before the flight. Medical records establishing a baseline before the incident are essential. Concealing a pre-existing condition tends to backfire, because it shifts the focus away from what the accident actually worsened.

Contributory Negligence

Airlines can reduce or eliminate liability by proving the passenger contributed to the injury. Article 20 of the Convention allows partial or full exoneration where the passenger’s own negligence caused or contributed to the damage.¹ The most common example is ignoring the fasten-seatbelt sign. This defense applies to first-tier strict liability too, so it is available even when the airline could not otherwise contest responsibility.

Purely Psychological Harm

Emotional harm without accompanying physical injury is generally not compensable under the Montreal Convention. A European court has confirmed that Article 17 applies only to bodily injury and that Article 29 prevents passengers from bypassing this by suing under national law instead.⁵ Domestic claims may offer broader options for emotional distress recovery, though courts still favor claims backed by documented physical harm.

Deadlines You Cannot Miss

International claims carry a hard two-year deadline. Article 35 of the Montreal Convention states that the right to damages is “extinguished” if suit is not filed within two years from the date the aircraft arrived, should have arrived, or the transportation stopped. Courts read “extinguished” to mean the right itself disappears, closer to a statute of repose than a standard statute of limitations. Missing the window almost certainly means losing the claim.

Domestic claims follow the statute of limitations of whichever state’s law applies. Personal injury deadlines commonly run one to four years, and some states require earlier notice to the airline. The clock starts on the date of the incident, so getting advice quickly is the safe approach.

What You Can Recover

Economic Damages

These are the out-of-pocket costs tied to the injury: emergency room bills, surgery, physical therapy, prescriptions, and future medical treatment. Lost wages count as well, both income already missed and future earning capacity if the injury is lasting. Keep every receipt and billing statement, because these amounts have to be verified.

Non-Economic Damages

Pain and suffering, loss of enjoyment of life, and physical impairment fall here. There is no formula. In domestic cases, juries evaluate severity and duration and assign a value. In international cases, non-economic damages are recoverable as part of the compensatory award, but the first-tier strict liability covers all damages combined up to the SDR cap.² Above the threshold, you must prove fault to recover more.

Punitive Damages

On international flights, Article 29 flatly prohibits punitive damages.¹ On domestic flights they are theoretically available for reckless or grossly negligent conduct, though rare in practice and shaped by state-specific rules.

How Settlements Are Taxed

Compensation for physical injuries or physical sickness is excluded from federal gross income under 26 U.S.C. § 104(a)(2).⁶ The exclusion covers the settlement itself, along with pain-and-suffering payments and lost wages, so long as they stem from a physical injury.

Punitive damages are fully taxable regardless of whether the underlying case involved a physical injury.⁷ Emotional distress damages not arising from a physical injury are also taxable, though amounts reimbursing actual medical expenses for treating that emotional distress can be excluded if those expenses were not previously deducted.⁶ Interest earned on a judgment or settlement is taxable. When a settlement mixes categories, the allocation between taxable and non-taxable portions matters, and getting it right during negotiations is far easier than trying to reclassify funds later.

Evidence to Gather Right Away

What you collect in the first few hours is worth more than anything reconstructed later.

Medical records. Get examined as soon as possible after landing. Emergency room records, physician notes, and imaging create the link between the flight and your injury. Delays give airlines room to argue the injury happened somewhere else.
The on-board incident report. Ask the flight crew to file one and request a copy. If they will not provide it immediately, note who you spoke with and when.
Boarding pass and itinerary. These verify you were on the flight and establish whether the Montreal Convention or state law applies.
Photos and video. Photograph the hazard: a broken seat mechanism, a wet floor, an overhead bin that will not latch. If other passengers recorded the event, get their contact information.
Witness names. Seatmates and nearby passengers who saw what happened can corroborate your account.

Organize everything chronologically, from incident to diagnosis to treatment. Airlines process claims more efficiently when the file tells a coherent story, and the same organized record becomes the foundation if the case reaches an attorney.

Filing a Claim With the Airline

Most airlines have a formal claims process through customer relations or their legal department. Claim forms are usually on the airline’s website or available by phone. The form will ask for your flight number, seat assignment, and a detailed description of what happened. Fill it in using the language from your medical records and incident report so the account lines up.

Submit by certified mail or the airline’s dedicated liability portal. The airline may assign an insurance adjuster who asks for medical authorizations or employment records. Respond promptly; delay gives the airline reason to let the file sit. Keep a log of every communication, including dates, names, what was discussed, and what was promised.

If you hit an impasse, the U.S. Department of Transportation requires airlines to acknowledge consumer complaints within 30 days and provide a written response within 60 days.⁸ Two limits are worth knowing: the DOT’s consumer protection division does not handle safety complaints (those go to the FAA), and a DOT complaint is a regulatory tool, not a legal claim for damages. It does not substitute for a lawsuit.

When to Bring in an Attorney

Minor injuries with clear documentation and modest bills can sometimes be resolved directly with the airline. Anything more serious is worth legal help, especially international claims, where the Convention’s technicalities can decide whether you recover at all. An aviation injury attorney will know whether your claim falls under the Convention or state law, how to value non-economic damages, and how to work the two-tier liability system.

Most personal injury attorneys work on contingency, taking a percentage of the recovery rather than charging upfront. The standard is around 33% if the case settles before litigation, rising to roughly 40% at trial. These are negotiable, and some states cap them. For serious injuries the economics favor the passenger: the attorney bears the financial risk, and only gets paid if you do.

Given the two-year international deadline and varying state deadlines on domestic claims, the most expensive mistake is waiting too long to get advice. Initial consultations with aviation injury attorneys are typically free and will at least tell you whether the claim has a realistic path forward.

1
International Air Transport Association. Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules for International Carriage by Air
2
International Civil Aviation Organization. 2024 Revised Limits of Liability Under the Montreal Convention of 1999
3
International Monetary Fund. SDR Valuation
4
Justia U.S. Supreme Court Center. Air France v. Saks, 470 U.S. 392 (1985)
5
Court of Justice of the European Union. Judgment of the Court (Third Chamber) – C-111/21
6
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 104 – Compensation for Injuries or Sickness
7
Internal Revenue Service. Tax Implications of Settlements and Judgments
8
US Department of Transportation. File a Consumer Complaint