BA and Qantas win DVT case in Australian high court
11.07.05
British Airways and Qantas have won a landmark case on DVT (or economy class syndrome) in the Australian High Court. The case involved a passengers claim for damages after suffering DVT (deep vein thrombosis) on a long haul flight.
A passenger, Mr Brian Povey, tried to claim compensation through the Australian High Court. The court found that, for an airline to be found liable for injury under the Warsaw Convention - the international agreement concerning airline damages - the DVT injury would have had to have been caused by an 'accident'. As this was was proven to be the case, Mr Povey's damages claim failed. He also has no further right of appeal under the Australian legal system.
A similar case will be brought to the House of Lords in the UK by British litigants later this year. The World Health Organisation (WHO), will be publishing their findings of a DVT study they undertook later this year too.
