Attorney Michael Rehm - (916) 233-7346

Turbulence is the leading cause of in-flight injuries to passengers and flight attendants on commercial airlines. Passengers connecting through Sacramento International Airport (KSMF) on flights to and from the West Coast corridor, the Sierra Nevada mountain range, and trans-Pacific routes encounter terrain-induced turbulence, clear-air turbulence, and convective turbulence with some frequency. When an airline or charter operator fails to take reasonable precautions against known or foreseeable turbulence, and a passenger or crew member is injured, the carrier is liable under California negligence law and, for international flights, under the Montreal Convention. Attorney Michael Rehm handles turbulence injury claims on behalf of passengers and crew members injured on flights through Sacramento and beyond.

Cases are handled on a contingency fee basis. No fee without a recovery.

Airline Duty of Care

Common carriers owe passengers the highest degree of care consistent with the practical operation of their business. Civil Code section 2100. An airline that receives a significant turbulence report (PIREP) for a given altitude and route, and fails to reroute, descend, or instruct passengers to remain belted, has breached this duty. The fasten seatbelt sign is not a complete defense — an airline that knows severe turbulence is likely and fails to take additional precautions may be liable even if the sign was illuminated.

Clear-Air Turbulence and Foreseeability

Clear-air turbulence (CAT) is not always predictable, but foreseeability does not require certainty. Routes over mountain ranges — including the Sierra Nevada, which lies immediately east of Sacramento — have known CAT patterns at certain altitudes and seasons. An airline that dispatches a flight on a known CAT-prone route without briefing crews on current SIGMET and PIREP data, or that fails to maintain adequate situational awareness en route, may be liable for turbulence injuries that a more careful operator would have avoided or mitigated.

The Montreal Convention for International Flights

For injuries occurring on international flights, the Montreal Convention (formally the Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules for International Carriage by Air) provides the governing framework and preempts state tort claims. Under Article 17 of the Convention, a carrier is strictly liable up to 113,100 Special Drawing Rights (SDR) per passenger for bodily injury sustained on board or during embarkation or disembarkation. Above that threshold, the carrier can escape liability only by proving it took all reasonable measures to avoid the damage, or that it was impossible to take such measures. For serious turbulence injuries, the carrier's liability is effectively unlimited if it cannot meet that burden. The SDR value fluctuates with currency exchange rates — the current conversion should be verified at the time of any specific claim.

Documentation and Evidence

Turbulence injury claims depend heavily on flight data. The aircraft's flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder, ATC communications, pilot reports (PIREPs), SIGMET and AIRMET records at the time of the flight, and airline maintenance and injury reports are all relevant. Federal regulations require airlines to maintain records of in-flight injuries. These records should be requested and preserved as early as possible.

Related Pages

• Sacramento Aviation Accident Attorney
• Sacramento Charter Flight Accident Attorney
• California Aviation Accident Attorney

Attorney Michael Rehm represents turbulence injury victims throughout Sacramento County and California on a contingency fee basis. No fee without a recovery. Call (916) 233-7346 to arrange a free consultation.

The information on this page is general legal information, not legal advice, and does not create an attorney-client relationship. Every case turns on its own facts. The law can change — statutes are amended, cases are decided, and regulations are revised; nothing on this page should be relied upon as a statement of current law without verification. Deadlines and legal bars discussed on this page are general guides — whether a particular deadline applies, has run, or is subject to tolling, and whether a particular doctrine bars or limits recovery in your case, requires individual analysis. Contact Attorney Michael Rehm to discuss the specific facts of your situation.