Jay Beckman wrote:
"Kev" wrote in message
oups.com...
American used to show the view out front on takeoff on its TV screens,
until after that DC-10 crash in Chicago, 1979. Rumors say they had to
pay extra for the pain and suffering caused by the passengers seeing
their own doom.

Personally, I can't imagine much more pain and suffering beyond the
realization that you are knife-edge (and still rolling) in a DC10...

Yeah, no kidding, but to lawyers it's a big deal. Some states allow
suing for the pain and suffering that goes between the incident and
death.

So apparently the amount of time that someone is consciously
terrorized, can be a major factor in death (or for that matter, life if
they make it) compensation. If the insurance company can prove that
everyone was knocked unconcious, then there's far less non-pecuniary
damages allowed than if the passengers were awake... during a 30,000
foot fall, for example.

This kind of compensation doesn't apply over international ocean, due
to the Death on the High Seas act.

IANAL, Kev