Originally Posted by
FirstInFlight
You are asking the right questions. It's not clear how this will play out but the passenger in this case has sued United asserting a variety of theories - negligence, emotional distress etc. There will be an argument that an airline owes a duty to its invitee. There will also be a question as to whether it is negligence to allow an intoxicated person to board. On the other hand the intentional actions of another (assuming they are found to be intentional) may serve to insulate UA. It promises to be an interesting case. And I think that UA refused to identify the other passenger prior to suit being filled - but clearly they know who he was and will be forced to identify him now that suit has been filed.
Thank you, but I'm really asking broader questions. There have been plenty of cases over the years of altercations and assaults between passengers, so I assume by now that there must be some legal precedent or case law, and I'm hoping one of the experienced denizens of this forum might know what it is. How have confrontations between passengers been handled in the past? Also, is the flight captain's authority similar to the captain of a ship? Also, there must either be conventions or agreements citing whose laws apply. On a domestic flight is it the laws of the state you're flying over or the state the plane took off from, or what? What about an international flight? I'm really not just asking about this incident.