[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 87 (Friday, June 20, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1282]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      AIRLINE DISASTER RELIEF ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. JOSEPH M. McDADE

                            of pennsylvania

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, June 20, 1997

  Mr. McDADE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to introduce, with 38 members 
of a bipartisan coalition, the Airline Disaster Relief Act, a measure 
which will provide equitable treatment for families of passengers 
involved in aviation disasters regulated by the Death on the High Seas 
Act of 1920 [DOHSA].
  The White House Commission on Aviation Safety and Security in its 
February 1997 report stated, ``Certain statutes and international 
treaties, established 50 years ago, historically have not provided 
equitable treatment for families of passengers involved in 
international aviation disasters. Specifically, the Death on the High 
Seas Act of 1920 and the Warsaw Convention of 1929, although designed 
to aid families of victims of maritime and aviation disasters, have 
inhibited the ability of family members of aviation disasters to obtain 
fair compensation.''
  The Airline Disaster Relief Act will reverse the injustice of the 
Death on the High Seas Act by allowing plaintiff families of air 
disaster victims to obtain a fair jury trial and receive just 
compensation for loss of companionship, loss to society, and punitive 
damages for the death of their loved ones which claimants are currently 
restricted from obtaining. It is time to bring sanity and justice to 
the application of the Federal laws and international treaties which 
regulate airline disaster claims. Passage of the Airline Disaster 
Relief Act will be an important first step in achieving this objective.
  Currently, there are two legal hurdles which families must overcome 
to obtain financial compensation for a lost loved one. The first is the 
Warsaw Convention of 1929 which is the primary vehicle to initiate 
lawsuits related to airline disasters. The second, is the Death on the 
High Seas Act which the Supreme Court recently ruled is the Federal law 
that determines the categories of damage awards. Under the Warsaw 
Convention, which governs the liability of airlines for airline 
disasters, families of passengers who died on international flights, 
such as TWA Flight 800, can receive no more than $75,000 for the loss 
of their loved one unless they can prove willful misconduct on the part 
of the airline. In November 1996, the airline industry waived the 
$75,000 cap and the need to prove willful misconduct for all future 
compensation cases. The airlines are to be commended for this action. 
However, in the case of the TWA 800 families, the waiver does not apply 
since the air disaster occurred in July 1996 and the tariff waiver 
agreement was signed the following November 1996. The lack of 
retroactive application of the waiver to TWA 800 means the $75,000 cap 
is still in place and willful misconduct is still the threshold under 
the Warsaw Convention to be proven for greater compensation. It is my 
hope that the administration, the Airline Transportation Association 
and the airline will work to reverse his injustice and grandfather the 
TWA families into the November 1996 Tariff Agreement.

  Although the Warsaw Convention is the primary vehicle through which 
plaintiffs initially seek compensation, the Supreme Court has ruled 
that damage awards will be based on the antiquated federal law the 
Death on the High Seas Act [DOHSA]. In 1920, the Death on the High Seas 
Act was designed for the immediate family of sailors lost at sea to 
obtain compensation for lost income before a U.S. District Judge under 
maritime law. Additionally, DOHSA restricts the circle of claimants to 
those family members who are economically dependent upon the decedent. 
It took the Supreme Court 77 years to fold major civil aviation related 
tragedies occurring more than 3 miles from the shores into the Death on 
the High Seas Act, which was passed at a time when international civil 
aviation did not exist. DOHSA is invoked when a crash occurs more than 
a marine league, roughly 3 miles, offshore as in the case of TWA Flight 
800.
  When the $75,000 cap of the Warsaw Convention and the compensatory 
restriction of only seeking loss of income under DOHSA are combined, 
family members of TWA 800 victims may receive minimal or no 
compensation through the courts. The interactions of these archaic and 
arcane laws are dealing families a grave and cruel injustice.
  As in the case of TWA 800 and the families of the 21 high school 
students and chaperons from Montoursville High School, PA, the 
application of DOHSA will mean that the families of the students will 
receive minimal compensation since children generally contribute little 
economically in support of their families. If your children are not 
supporting you or it is proven in court that they would not have the 
ability or inclination to support the parents, there will be no 
compensation. Additionally under DOHSA, surviving parents will be 
unable to obtain compensation for loss of companionship, loss to 
society, pain and suffering or punitive damages for lost loved ones. 
Furthermore, family members of adult victims may receive no 
compensation unless that individual was directly contributing to the 
economic welfare of the parents or siblings.
  Clearly, under most state tort laws, these limits on categories and 
thresholds of compensation would be viewed as inequitable, unfair, and 
inhuman. This inequality is best demonstrated in the State of 
Pennsylvania. On January 9, 1996, the Supreme Court ruled in Yamaha 
versus Calhoun that State tort law applies when an accident occurs 
within 3 miles from the shore, and on January 16, 1996, the same 
Supreme Court decided in Zicherman versus Korean Airlines that the 
Death on the High Seas Act governs tragedies beyond the 3-mile 
territorial limit. Thus, in Yamaha versus Calhoun, Pennsylvania State 
law applies which allows numerous categories compensation for injury or 
death of a family member. In Zicherman versus Korean Airlines, where 
DOHSA is applied, families such as those involved in the KAL 007 and 
TWA 800 air disasters will be restricted to obtaining only one category 
of compensation--loss of income. The application of DOHSA to the TWA 
800 incident will have a draconian impact on the families of the 
Montoursville High School students and chaperons since they will 
receive minimal compensation for the loss of their children. DOHSA also 
applies to all civil air flights, whether domestic or international, 
such as the airports in Boston, New York, San Francisco, and Los 
Angeles, where approaches and landings are often over water.
  Both the Supreme Court in Zicherman versus Korean Airlines and the 
White House Commission on Aviation Safety and Security recommend that 
Congress correct these inequities--as other countries have done 
already, considering that DOHSA was enacted in 1920 to protect widows 
of seamen--at a time when civil aviation did not exist. The Airline 
Disaster Act will abrogate the impact of the Death on the High Seas Act 
and allow families to seek just compensation under State and common 
law. I therefore urge my colleagues to join me in supporting passage of 
the Airline Disaster Relief Act, a measure whose time has come, to 
correct the judicial injustices which the application of the Death on 
the High Seas Act inflicts on families of air disaster passengers. Mr. 
Speaker, thank you for your consideration and support of this timely 
and badly needed legislative initiative.

                          ____________________