Lynn Birch injured her knee on her French package holiday

 

A woman from Sheffield who suffered a serious knee injury whilst skiing on holiday in France won £15,000 compensation in a case against holiday company First Choice, in 2006.

 

51-year-old Lynn Birch had a serious fall during her package holiday in 2002 at the resort of Serre Chevalier. The package deal included hire of ski equipment and skiing lessons. However, Mrs Birch found herself out of her depth when her intermediate class was taken to two maximum difficulty black runs.

 

Mrs Birch, who had previous experience of skiing, was faced with a choice between two black ski runs, one of which was a steep mogul run. Having no experience of the difficulty of the slope, and having allegedly received no instruction from her tutor, Mrs Birch claimed she had no choice but to ski down the mogul run upon which she fell twice, the second time injuring her knee.

 

 

 

Mrs Birch received treatment at the ski resort and extensive physiotherapy back home in Sheffield, but doctors decided she must undergo an operation on her anterior cruciate ligament, with further physiotherapy. Mrs Birch, who suffered pain for months after the accident, said “What started off as a dream holiday unfortunately turned into a nightmare,”

 

First Choice stated that their ski instructor was fully qualified, and that they had “acted reasonably in choosing the ski school,” (Yorkshire Post, 2006). The case was decided on the basis of correspondence between the company and the ski instructor, who asserted he was careful to only take the groups to slopes which matched their ability.

 

However, when it emerged that the ski instructor would be unable to attend the hearing, First Choice decided “to try and settle the claim on the best possible terms,”

Many of us love holidays and spend months planning them; choosing our favourite destinations, finding out all the local information, the must-sees, making sure the children are going to be sufficiently entertained as well as searching for the best bargains in all aspects of the holiday: clothes, holiday reading material, accommodation and transport. With so much to think about few people give a second thought to flying to their exotic destination. Although not quite the everyday mode of transport, flying is still commonplace and regularly used.

 

Thankfully, accidents involving airplanes are rare however, there have been a number of accidents in the past year alone which have hit the headlines.

 

On 1st June this year an Air France airbus 330 vanished over the Atlantic during a flight from Rio de Janeiro to Paris. All 288 people on board are presumed to have died. There were 12 crew on board and passengers from 32 nationalities including five Britons, 61 French, 58 Brazilians and twenty-six Germans.

 

The plane disappeared after entering a “thunderous zone with strong turbulence” at 2am midway between Brazil and North West Africa. Pierre-Henri Gourgeon, Air France’s chief executive, said the aircraft sent out a “succession of a dozen technical messages…indicating that several systems had broken down…indicating a completely unheard of situation.”

 

Investigators are unsure of the exact causes but they believe the plane hit the ocean “belly first” and intact which could indicate an aircraft recovering from a stall. It could also indicate that the pilots tried to retain control after the aircraft plummeted from 35,000feet in just over 4minutes. None of the passengers were wearing life jackets suggesting that they were not prepared for an emergency. 51 bodies have been recovered from the sea.

 

However it is now unlikely that we will know the exact facts behind this tragedy as the “black boxes” which contain the flight details will now have run out of battery and will no longer be emitting signals; even if they are located they would be difficult to retrieve as they are probably 10,000feet deep on the mountainous ocean floor.

 

Just a month later on 29th June, a second aircraft crashed into the sea. This time it was a Yemenia Airbus 310 flying from Paris to Grande Comoro which is 250 miles off the South East coast of Africa. The plane was coming into land and had already made a first failed attempt before it disappeared. Mohammad al-Sumairi, deputy general manager for Yemenia operations said that “weather conditions were rough; strong wind and high seas. The wind speed recorded on land at airport was 38mph. There could be other factors.” Although Yemeni airlines are not on the European Union ‘black list’ which bans planes from flying in the region’s air space it is “subject to stricter checks”.

 

There were 153 people onboard including 11 crew and 3 babies, most of them were French or Comoran. The only survivor to be found was 12year old Bahia Bakari who clung to the wreckage of the plane for three days before she was found. She was flying with her mother who is believed to have died in the crash. Again the exact causes may never be known as the black boxes will be difficult to locate and retrieve as they are most likely on the sea bed.

 

Then to add this string of tragedies there was a third fatal aeroplane crash on 11th August. A chartered plane, carrying 11 passengers and 2 crew, was flying from Port Moresby, the capitol of Papua New Guinea, to an airport near the Kokoda region when it crashed. The passengers, including nine Australian, one Japanese and three Papua New Guineans, were heading for the tourist destination of the Kokoda track. This is a 60 mile mountainous route where, during the Second World War Australian troops managed to halt the advance of Japanese troops on the Port of Moresby. No survivors were found.

 

With these horrific accidents fresh in our minds many people may be having second thoughts about flying. However if we actually look at the statistics for the safety of flying then your mind may be put at rest:

 

Various research has found that passengers boarding a plane have 99.99% chance of surviving the flight making flying the safest mode of transport. With more than 3 million people flying every single day you are 22 times safer on a plane than travelling by car. Looking at this another way, according to research by Charles Bremner (writing for The Times) “flying is probably safer than staying at home” if you look at injuries resulting from domestic accidents. In official figures from the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) in 2007 there were only 0.014 deaths per 100million passenger miles from just eleven accidents and this is despite there being a rise in air traffic.

 

Although aeroplanes crashes are comparatively rare other more minor accidents or problems are far more common. These could include emergency landings, rough landings or sustaining injuries from rough flights caused by turbulence. Another contentious issue is the quality of air provided by the air conditioning.

 

On many planes air is drawn out of the compression section of the engine and cooled; it then enters the cabin where it mixes with re-circulated air that has passed through filters to remove bacteria and viruses. However the filters don’t remove fumes or vapours from the engines so if there is a leak of oil or hydraulic fuel then toxic chemicals could contaminate the air supply. In new research 31 swabs were secretly taken in aeroplane cabins; 28 showed high levels of toxic chemicals. Contaminated cabin air could be affecting up to 200,000 passengers a year.

 

Air conditioning on aeroplanes could cause skin irritation and respiratory trouble. Ozone pollution can cause respiratory problems while the decreased oxygen pressure is a health risk to those suffering from pre-existing conditions such as cardiac or respiratory disease. The dry air also causes eyes to dry as well as nasal membrane and skin while pesticides cause skin irritation.

 

Although you would have to be a more frequent flyer to suffer from health problems the risks are still there. Research carried out among 789 British airline staff showed that 1 in7 took more than a month’s sick leave in the previous year. One in 23 have been diagnosed with cancer despite their average age being 4o and cancer research claiming that those under 44 have only a 1 in 200 chance of contracting cancer. One in twenty has also reported being diagnosed with chronic fatigue although normally it is around 1 in 100. Also 20% of those surveyed have been diagnosed with depression but the national average is 8-12%. As well as these problems there were also found to be high levels of miscarriages, thyroid conditions, high blood pressure, cholesterol, pneumonia, bronchitis and IBS.

 

Finally it is also thought that air conditioning on planes could be re-circulating bacteria and viruses, although the filters remove most of these. This means that, combined with the close quarters of passengers on planes, bugs are more likely to be spread. Catching a virus at the beginning of your holiday could easily ruin all your hard earned rest and turn what should be a fun and memorable occasion into a nightmare.

 

If you have suffered any holiday injuries or illnesses from flying, either suspected bugs or nasty knocks from a rough landing then you may have a case to claim compensation for any medical costs or discomfort you suffered. For the opportunity to chat with a friendly professional solicitor to discuss your case call Macks Solicitors on 0800 562 4321 or fill in the online claim form at http://www.mackssolicitors.co.uk/.

 

 

Booking a package holiday through a tour operator is probably the easiest way of arranging a holiday. The holiday agent will make all the arrangements for travel, accommodation and may also organise or book excursions and entertainment for you if you wish. Although you may have to pay a little more for a package holiday booked through a holiday company than for a holiday that you have arranged by booking the different elements yourself, it does carry safeguards that, generally speaking, individually booked holidays do not.

 

Holidaymakers in this country, who take package holidays, are protected by compelling consumer legislation. Package holidays are covered by The Package Travel, Package Holiday and Package Tour Regulations 1992 and tour operators have to follow the rules that are set out in these regulations. If, as a result of their failure to meet the requirements of the regulations a consumer suffers a holiday illness or a holiday accident, then the holiday company may be held liable for any compensation claim.

 

The regulations clearly place the responsibility for the safety of consumers in the hands of the booking company if the booking includes a combination of at least two of the following:

 

 

Under Regulation 15 the “other party”; the organiser and other person involved in the contract, is liable to the consumer for the proper performance of obligations under the contract. This means that they are responsible for all aspects of the contract irrespective of whether they are actually performing the obligations or other suppliers are performing them. For example the accommodation may be owned and run by another party but the tour operator will be responsible for any problems that occur during the consumers stay there.

 

This means that, if a consumer suffers, or is involved in, an accident on holiday or has a holiday illness which can be attributed to the holiday company’s failure to meet the obligations set out in The Package Travel, Package Holiday and Package Tour Regulations 1992 the holiday company may be held liable. Therefore, if you were involved in an accident on holiday while travelling, in or around your accommodation or on an organised activity you may have a case to claim holiday accident compensation. Similarly, if you have had your holiday ruined by a holiday illness such as food poisoning as a result of poor standards of hygiene, or some other preventable illness such as norovirus or legionnaires disease this too, may enable you to make a claim for holiday accident compensation.

 

The holiday company may not however, be held responsible for the following:

 

 

N.B. The Package Travel, Package Holiday Regulations and Package Tour Regulations 1992 only apply to packages which are offered for sale in the United Kingdom.

 

 

 

As the holiday market evolves and use of the internet widens, so too does the way in which people arrange their holidays. Many people now choose to make their own arrangements, booking the different elements that make up their ideal holiday separately.

 

Unfortunately, these holidays do not provide tourists with the same consumer protection that covers package holidays and cruises. Holidaymakers who have arranged their holidays in this way and have had a holiday accident or illness on holiday require specialist legal advice with a more modern and inventive approach if they want to make a successful holiday compensation claim.

 

Macks
If you are unsure as to whether you are able to claim holiday accident compensation and would like the benefit of free legal advice before you decide to take any action Macks Solicitors will be pleased to help.

 

Macks experienced personal injury solicitors have been acting for clients who have suffered an illness on holiday or have been injured in a holiday accident and would be happy to discuss the making of a holiday accident compensation claim with you.

 

You are under no obligation but if, after speaking to a solicitor you decide that you would like to pursue a claim for holiday accident compensation, and would like us to represent you, we will start proceeding immediately on your behalf.

 

Your solicitor will keep you informed on the progress of your claim throughout and, when the claim has been settled for the maximum award

19-year-old intern suffered fatal injuries and died in Corsica

 

A British girl has died in a road traffic accident on the island of Corsica, it was reported today. 19-year-old Sophie Fletcher-Curran was on a year-long internship with Mark Curran, a holiday firm, when she was hit by a bus and suffered fatal injuries.

 

Sophie died in hospital in Bastia on the French island; her family are receiving help from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to fly out there, after their daughter passed away last night. The Managing Director for Mark Curran described Sophie’s accident as a “tragic loss,” and extended the condolences of her work colleagues.
(BBC News, 2009)

 

Sophie had been crossing the Route Nationale 198 just outside her hotel lodgings, on her way to work, something she would do every day; she was airlifted to hospital, but doctors were unable to resuscitate her.

The family of British graduate Emily Jordan have today received compensation from the extreme sports company deemed responsible for her death.

 

Having graduated from Swansea University, Miss Jordan, 21, was travelling in New Zealand’s South Island with her boyfriend in April 2008, when they stopped at Kawarau River Gorge near Queenstown to go river boarding. However, whilst riding a body board down the river’s rapids, Miss Jordan became trapped under a rock and remained submerged for 20 minutes because it was not standard practice for the safety boats to carry ropes with them.

 

By the time a boat carrying ropes arrived, it was too late for Miss Jordan who had already drowned. Black Sheep Adventures Ltd (which trades as Mad Dog River Boarding), and company director Brad McLeod were each charged with negligence and failing to ensure the safety of their customers, as Queenstown District Court heard that the safety operation plans of the company were inadequate and fell far short of their industry’s standards. Both parties denied the three charges brought against them and on Monday, all charges against Mr McLeod were dropped. However, whilst one charge against the company was dropped, Mad Dog River Boarding pleaded guilty to the remaining two and was required to pay £33,500 in compensation to Miss Jordan’s family. They were also fined the equivalent of £27,600 in New Zealand dollars for health and safety charges.

 

Although pleased with the result Miss Jordan’s mother, Sarah from Trimpley in Worcestershire, said that she found it “incredible” that there were no corporate manslaughter charges in New Zealand and added that this was “part of the reason why these activities go on – because these companies, especially some of them, know that they can get away with no safety regulations, no training, no safety equipment”.

 

Chris Jordan, Emily’s father, who was present at the trial expressed hope that something positive might come from his daughter’s death saying that “To just reduce the horrendous deaths that occur in some of these extreme sports would be my primary aim, my primary reason for coming over [from Britain] this week”.