Certain Aspects of Insurance and Liability with Respect to Passengers in Air Carriage*

Abstract

Eloquent evidence exists of the special importance of aviation accident insurance. Although air transport has gradually obtained its place under the normal means of conveyance—in international passenger transport perhaps even the first place—it still carries the odium of being more hazardous than surface transport. A comparison of the annual accident statistics for air carriers, railroads and inter-city buses up to a few years ago, shows that the number of passenger lives lost per passenger mile travelled by scheduled airlines has always exceeded the number of lives lost per passenger mile travelled on the railroads. Notwithstanding the considerably increased safety factor of air travel, the aircraft from its very nature provides a risk which in itself is much more serious than that of other means of transport. It may be that statistics show that accidents in road traffic are more numerous than those in air traffic—this on a comparable basis—but air traffic throughout the years shows by comparison more death casualties.