Case notes by topic
Travel and aviation
Case notes on injuries in the air, at sea and on holiday, and on claims that cross borders.
Newest first
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Picture hiddenAircraft accidentAirline liable for flight attendant’s injury after pulling sticky galley cart
The Supreme Court of Queensland awarded a former Alliance Airlines cabin manager $602,068.02 after finding the airline had not provided task-specific safe-work guidance for moving resistant catering carts from aircraft galley…
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Picture hiddenBoating & watercraftOpen water yacht racing recreational but not dangerous
The NSW Supreme Court held a yacht skipper liable after a racing collision injured a crew member.
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Picture hiddenAircraft accidentOccupational training course can be a dangerous recreational activity
An appeal court has ruled that a course of training can amount to a "dangerous recreational activity" when accompanied by an element of pleasure.
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Picture hiddenAircraft accidentEngineer liable for missing helicopter fatigue crack
A seasoned pilot whose 1965 Bell UH-1H “Huey” helicopter dropped out of the sky in the Snowy Mountains during a long-line lifting operation survived his second major helicopter crash with significant injuries.
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Picture hiddenAircraft accidentInstructor intervention the cause of horror runway crash
A flying instructor’s failure to strictly observe cockpit control “hand over” rules as an aircraft was rolling for take-off on a country runway, has been held responsible for an accident that left the trainee pilot injured in the…
- Aircraft accident
High Court refuses special leave; Qatar shame to go to trial
Five Australian women who were forced off their flight at Doha international airport in October 2020 and subjected to invasive physical examinations in an ambulance on the tarmac without their consent can continue their…
- Cruise ship injury
Ruby Princess damages revisited
When the Ruby Princess steamed out of Circular Quay on 8 March 2020, it carried 2,600-odd passengers, 1,100 crew and a viral stowaway that would turn the ship into a national symbol of pandemic mismanagement.
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Picture hiddenAircraft accidentAir Canada mid-air turbulence causes serious injuries
When Renae Evans and her daughter boarded an Air Canada flight AC33 from Vancouver to Sydney in July 2019, they had no idea their journey would become the centre of a legal battle that might take a decade to resolve.
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Picture hiddenCruise ship injuryNo wriggle room on ACL interpretation: consumers forever on top
Australia’s top court has emphatically ruled that the protections that the Australian Consumer Law provide to consumers and small businesses are impervious to subversion and in so doing has embedded them into the business…
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Picture hiddenAircraft accidentTurbulence event exposes Air Canada to major damages claims
A court has ruled that state laws apply to the formulation of damages recoverable by international airline passengers for cabin injuries sustained in a turbulence event.
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Picture hiddenCruise ship injuryRuby Princess damages fail a playbook for disappointment damages asks
Readers will recall that Ruby Princess - a Carnival vessel - sailed from Sydney on 8 March 2020 for New Zealand and returned on 19 March due to a Covid outbreak, short-changing its 2,671 passengers by three days on the promise of…
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Picture hiddenAircraft accidentSwedish families sue in Australia for parachute air crash defects
The surviving family members of eight skydivers killed in a 2019 plane crash in Sweden have sued the Victorian manufacturer of the aircraft in a Melbourne court.
Case notes explain decisions in other people’s cases. They are general information, not legal advice, and every claim turns on its own facts.
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