A judge at Manchester County Court in the UK has ruled that bird strikes aren't rare enough to be classed as an 'extraordinary circumstance' and therefore passengers who suffer delays as a result are entitled to compensation from carriers.
Thomas Cook Airlines had claimed a bird-strike-delayed flight from Turkey in 2011 was an extraordinary cricumstance and it therefore should not have to pay compensation, but the judge ordered the carrier to pay five passengers about GBP310 each.
"For my part I observe that the word used is 'extraordinary' rather than 'unexpected', 'unforeseeable', 'unusual' or even 'rare'. Extraordinary to me denotes something beyond unusual," the judge said.
"A motorway collision between two cars is unusual but not extraordinary, whereas a motorway collision between a car, and say a horse would be extraordinary.
"Bird strikes happen many times a day," he concluded.
A judge at Manchester County Court in the UK has ruled that bird strikes aren't rare enough to be classed as an 'extraordinary circumstance' and therefore passengers who suffer delays as a result are entitled to compensation from carriers.
Thomas Cook Airlines had claimed a bird-strike-delayed flight from Turkey in 2011 was an extraordinary cricumstance and it therefore should not have to pay compensation, but the judge ordered the carrier to pay five passengers about GBP310 each.
"For my part I observe that the word used is 'extraordinary' rather than 'unexpected', 'unforeseeable', 'unusual' or even 'rare'. Extraordinary to me denotes something beyond unusual," the judge said.
"A motorway collision between two cars is unusual but not extraordinary, whereas a motorway collision between a car, and say a horse would be extraordinary.
"Bird strikes happen many times a day," he concluded.
