## Facts

- Dr. Abid M. Hanson, an international airline passenger with asthma and recurrent anaphylactic reactions, was sensitive to secondhand cigarette smoke.
- Hanson and his wife, Rubina Husain, flew on Olympic Airways Flight 417 from Athens to New York on January 4, 1998.
- Before and during boarding, Husain sought seating away from the smoking section; their assigned seats were three rows in front of the smoking area, with no partition separating smoking and non-smoking sections.
- As smoking increased during the flight, Husain made three requests to a flight attendant to move Hanson to other seats; multiple unoccupied seats were available.
- The flight attendant refused all three requests to reseat Hanson.
- Hanson’s condition worsened; he moved toward the front of the aircraft for cleaner air, received onboard medical attention, and died during the flight.
- Husain brought a wrongful-death action under Article 17 of the Warsaw Convention; the district court found an Article 17 “accident” and awarded roughly $1.4 million, and the Ninth Circuit affirmed.

## Issues

1. Whether, under Article 17 of the Warsaw Convention, a passenger’s death resulting from a preexisting condition aggravated by cabin conditions can be “caused by an accident” when airline personnel refuse repeated requests to provide a simple accommodation.
2. Whether an “accident” may be satisfied by an unusual or unexpected refusal to act that is external to the passenger and constitutes a link in the chain of causation.

## Decision

- The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment for Husain.
- The Court held that the flight attendant’s repeated refusal to move Hanson away from cigarette smoke was an “accident” within the meaning of Article 17.
- The Court reasoned that Article 17’s “accident” inquiry permits consideration of a chain of causes; it is enough that at least one link is an unusual or unexpected event external to the passenger.
- Even if ambient cigarette smoke was a normal condition on the flight, the attendant’s refusal to assist—given the requests, the availability of open seats, and Hanson’s known vulnerability—was an external, unusual event that contributed to the death.

## Legal Principles

- Under Article 17 of the Warsaw Convention, an “accident” is an “unexpected or unusual event or happening that is external to the passenger.”
- A plaintiff need not show a single operative event; it is sufficient that some link in the causal chain is an unusual or unexpected external event.
- An airline employee’s unusual refusal to provide requested assistance can qualify as the Article 17 “accident,” even when the passenger’s injury also involves a preexisting condition reacting to otherwise normal flight conditions.

## Conclusion

The Court concluded that Olympic Airways was liable under Article 17 because the flight attendant’s unexpected and unusual refusal to reseat a medically vulnerable passenger, despite repeated requests and available seats, constituted an external “accident” that formed a causal link to the passenger’s death.


Olympic Airways v. Husain, 540 U.S. 644 (2004)