Olympic Airways v. Husain 540 U.S. 644 (2004) United States Supreme Court BACKGROUND AND FACTS Dr. Abid Husain was traveling aboard an Olympic Airways flight from Athens to New York, returning to the United States from a vacation with his wife and family. He suffered from asthma and was affected by secondhand smoke. They were seated in a nonsmoking section, three rows from the smoking section. As Dr. Husain was struggling to breathe, his wife, Rubina Husain, made three urgent requests that he be moved away from the smoke. Her requests were refused. The flight attendant claimed that the flight was "totally full (which was not correct) and that she was "too busy. Dr. Husain walked to the front of the plane for air. He died shortly later, despite attempts to revive him. At trial, the court awarded Mrs. Husain a $1.4 million judgment, which was affirmed by the U.S. Court of Appeals. Olympic Airways (petitioner) appealed to the Supreme Court, arguing that Dr. Husain's death was the result of his internal reaction to the usual and expected operation of the airplane and thus not the result of an accident. Decision: Mrs. Husain's verdict for $1.4 million in the trial court was upheld. The flight attendant's "unexpected or unusual" refusal to move the passenger to another seat, contrary to airline policy and industry standards, was an "accident that was "external to the passenger" within the meaning of Article 17 of the Montreal Convention. It was a link in a chain of causation that resulted in the aggravation of a passenger's pre-existing medical condition by exposure to a normal condition (smoking, which was permitted) in the aircraft cabin. Q1. Why were the events in this case deemed "unexpected or unusual"? (2 marks) Q2. What is the significance of the attendant's failure to move the asthmatic passenger away from smoke when that was contrary to airline industry procedures