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Aviation History
1932
1932 - 1301.PDF
FLIGHT, DECEMBER 22, 1932 The W&rs&w Convention In "Flight" for December i and December 15 Mr. Alan Goodfellow contributed articles expressing his own expert views on the question of third party liability as affected by the International Conventions. This week he follows these articles with a very able summary of what the Warsaw Convention is, so that our readers may be perfectly clear about the many important points it contains. Ill \ ARLY next year a Convention of far-reaching im- • "'(-N portance to everyone engaged in or in any way JI]—) concerned with international air transport will come into effect. On October 12, 1929, fourteen States gave their approval to an International Convention for the purpose of regulating the liability of international air carriers in respect of passengers, baggage and goods carried by them. Since that time practically all the European States, and others as far away as China and Brazil, not to mention the British Colonies, have given their approval to the Convention, in principle. The main provisions of the Convention may be sum marised as follows: — (1) The Convention applies to all international trans port of persons, baggage or merchandise, effected for hire or reward or by an air transport enterprise. For this pur pose transport is considered international when the ulti mate destination or any intermediate landing is in a different State from that of departure. (2) By articles 17, 18 and 19, the carrier is made liable for death, bodily injury, or delay sustained by passengers, for loss of or damage to goods or baggage, and for loss resulting from delay of goods or baggage, unless he proves: (a) In the case of passengers that he and his officials have taken all possible measures that were necessary to avoid the damage (Art. 20). (b) In the case of baggage and goods that he and his officials had taken all possible measures as above, but with this difference, that in respect of baggage and goods the carrier may escape liability if the accident was due to a " Fault of pilotage or navigation," whereas in the case of passengers he will be liable for any such fault (Art. 20). In either case, contributory negligence may be pleaded as defence to liability. (3) Provided that he complies with the stipulations of the Convention as to passenger tickets, baggage checks and consignment notes and is not guilty of fraud, the liability of the carrier is limited as follows: — (a) In the case of passengers, to 125,000 francs per passenger. (b) In case of goods, to 250 francs per kilo. (c) In the case of hand baggage, to 5,000 francs per passenger. These rates are based on a franc value which corre sponded roughly in 1929 to £1,000 per passenger, £2 per kilo of goods and £40 for hand baggage. It is not quite clear how far the figures are effected by exchange fluctua tions, but presumably the figures are now increased in amount owing to the depreciation of the £. (4) Neither party may contract out of the terms of the Convention, but the carrier's liability may be increased by contract between himself and the passenger or consignor. (5) In order to take advantage of the limitation of liability the carrier must deliver a ticket, baggage check, or consignment note respectively, containing the following minimum particulars: — (a) Passenger tickets. Place and date of issue—points of departure and destination— anticipated stopping places—name and address of carrier—an indication that the transport is subject to the Convention. (b) Baggage Checks. The same particulars and in addition, number of passenger ticket— number and weight of packages—the amount of declared value, if specially declared for insurance purposes. (c) Consignment Notes. Place and date of completion of document—points of departure and destination—anticipated stopping places—name and address of the Consignor—name and address of the first carrier (where more than one) —name and address of the Consignee—nature of goods—number, method of packing, and distinguishing marks of packages—weight, quantity, volume, or dimensions of the goods—the special value declared (if any) for insurance purposes—an indication that the carriage is subject to the provisions of the Convention. (Arts. 3, 4, and 8.) (6) Claims must be brought in the territory of one oi the contracting States, but the plaintiff has a very wide choice of Courts. He may sue before the Court of the domicile of the carrier, or of the carrier's principal place of business, or of any branch or office in which the con tract was made or before the Court of the place of destina tion. While international air carriers generally will probably welcome the Convention as fixing some definite limit to their liability, passengers and consignors will also have cause for satisfaction in as much as their task in recover ing damage is very much simplified. The plaintiff gains two great advantages from the Convention, firstly, by having such a wide choice of Courts in which to bring his action, and secondly, by being able to call upon the carrier to prove that the accident was not his fault instead of having to prove affirmatively that the carrier was to blame. In practice, the Convention should work with a reasonable degree of fairness as between the carrier and the carried, though the dice seem to be loaded somewhat in favour of the latter. It is interesting to note that in this Convention the principle adopted is one of a presumption of negligence as against the operator, a principle which the writer suggested in his previous article for application to the International Third Party Convention now under consideration. With out admitting that the aircraft operator deserves to have even this burden thrust upon him, the principle is certainly fairer than that of absolute liability which the latter convention seeks to impose, and affords ample protection to passengers, consignors, and third parties alike, while air transport is in the development stage. The Warsaw Convention comes into operation as from midnight on February 12-13, 1933, so far as those countries which have ratified it are concerned, namely, Brazil, France, Jugo Slavia, Latvia, Poland, Roumania, and Spain. As far as at present known, it will apply to Great Britain and Northern Ireland about one month later, owing to the delay in ratification. Italy and Belgium are about to ratify, and presumably all the other adherents will follow suit in the near future. «o <r> <o French Long Distance Flight RENE LEFEVRE, the French airman, left Orly on Decem ber 18 on an 8,000 miles flight to Saigon in French Indo- China. He is flying a Mauboussin II light plane (40 h.p. " Salmson "). Another Height Record RENATO DONATI, the well-known Italian air pilot, is said to have attained an altitude of 9,700 metres (over 5£ miles), thus breaking the existing height record for tourist machines at present held by Germany. Donati was flying an Italian C.N.A. machine powered by a C.7 engine of 100 h.p. Air League of the British Empire As a result of the manifesto on British Air Policy issued on November 8 on behalf of the Royal Aeronautical Society, the Royal Aero Club and the Air League of the British Empire, the Air League have invited each of the other two bodies to nominate two members to serve on a reconstituted Executive Committee of the Air League. The invitation has been accepted, and the Royal Aero nautical Society have nominated Mr. Griffith Brewer and Mr. Lawrence Wingfield, the Royal Aero Club Lord Gorell and Mr. W. Lindsay Everard, M.P. The new committee met on December 15, under the chairmanship of Maj. Gen. J. E. B. Seely, who was unanimously elected to fill this office, Capt. F. E. Guest, M.P., the former chairman, remaining on the committee as deputy-chairman. Heaviest African Air Mail THE Imperial Airways machine Hengist, which left Croydon on December 14 for Africa, carried the heaviest load of mails yet carried by an aeroplane to Africa ; it weighed over half a ton, and contained Christmas greetings and presents for all parts of Africa. Aeroplane Assistance for French Flooded Area AERIAL assistance has been rendered to flooded areas in South-Western France where houses and bridges have been washed down and railways washed away. At one village a farm completely cut off by water was provisioned from the air, sacks of bread being dropped in the streets. The Royal Aero Club and Xmas THE Royal Aero Club will be closed on Christmas Day, December 25, except to members staying in the Club, and breakfasts only will be served on that day. The Club will also be closed from 3 p.m. on Friday, December 30, for the Annual Staff Christmas Party. VIM
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