Airline cases
1. Indian Airlines Corporation vs Sm. Madhuri Chowdhuri And Ors. on 27 May, 1964
The suit arose out of an unfortunate and tragic air crash at Nagpur when a Dakota air plane VT-CHF crashed soon after it started flying from Nagpur to Madras. All the passengers and the crew were killed and the only person who escaped with severe injuries and burns was the Pilot, Desmond Arthur James Cartner. This accident took place on the 12th December, 1953 at about 3-25 a.m. In that Aircraft travelled one Sunil Baran Chowdhury, a young man of about 28 years of age, a business man from Calcutta, who had flown from Calcutta to Nagpur and was taking his journey in that ill-fated Aircraft from Nagpur to Madras at the time of the accident. The plaintiffs in this suit were (1) the widow of the deceased Sunil Baran Chowdhury, (2) his minor son and (3) his minor daughter. The widow as the mother of the minors acted as the next friend in the plaint. The Indian Airlines Corporation is the defendant in this suit.
It is pleaded in the plaint that as a result of the accident Sunil Baran was killed. In the particulars of the accident given in the plaint it is said that the accident took place on the 12th December, 1953 at 3-25 a.m. about two miles from the end of the runway of Sonegaon Airport at Nagpur when the said plane attempted to land owing to engine trouble immediately after it had taken off from the said aerodrome. On that ground it is pleaded that the defendant is liable for damages for breach of contract in not safely carrying the passenger and for breach of duties under the Carriage by Air Act and/or of the Notification thereunder. There is an alternative plea in the plaint which alleges that the deceased died of the said accident which was caused by the negligence and/or misconduct of the defendant Corporation or its agents. The plaint pleads specifically the particulars of negligence in the following terms:
(a) The port engine of the plane lost power after getting air-borne
The suit arose out of an unfortunate and tragic air crash at Nagpur when a Dakota air plane VT-CHF crashed soon after it started flying from Nagpur to Madras. All the passengers and the crew were killed and the only person who escaped with severe injuries and burns was the Pilot, Desmond Arthur James Cartner. This accident took place on the 12th December, 1953 at about 3-25 a.m. In that Aircraft travelled one Sunil Baran Chowdhury, a young man of about 28 years of age, a business man from Calcutta, who had flown from Calcutta to Nagpur and was taking his journey in that ill-fated Aircraft from Nagpur to Madras at the time of the accident. The plaintiffs in this suit were (1) the widow of the deceased Sunil Baran Chowdhury, (2) his minor son and (3) his minor daughter. The widow as the mother of the minors acted as the next friend in the plaint. The Indian Airlines Corporation is the defendant in this suit.
It is pleaded in the plaint that as a result of the accident Sunil Baran was killed. In the particulars of the accident given in the plaint it is said that the accident took place on the 12th December, 1953 at 3-25 a.m. about two miles from the end of the runway of Sonegaon Airport at Nagpur when the said plane attempted to land owing to engine trouble immediately after it had taken off from the said aerodrome. On that ground it is pleaded that the defendant is liable for damages for breach of contract in not safely carrying the passenger and for breach of duties under the Carriage by Air Act and/or of the Notification thereunder. There is an alternative plea in the plaint which alleges that the deceased died of the said accident which was caused by the negligence and/or misconduct of the defendant Corporation or its agents. The plaint pleads specifically the particulars of negligence in the following terms:
(a) The port engine of the plane lost power after getting air-borne