Airport & Airline Injury Claims
⚖ Airport & Airline Injury Claims
Houston Airport & Airline Injury Lawyer
Getting to your gate, boarding your flight, and making it home safely shouldn't be complicated — but airports and airlines are high-pressure environments run by dozens of different companies, and when one of them cuts a corner, it's the traveler who gets hurt. If you or someone in your family has been injured at an airport or on a flight, you need an attorney who actually understands how this industry operates.
For more than 25 years, Tom Stilwell has represented travelers injured at airports and on airlines — and before that, he spent years as defense counsel for major airlines and aircraft-related companies. He has spoken at national aviation law conferences and published on the Air Carrier Access Act and the Montreal Convention, the two federal and international frameworks that govern most airport and airline injury claims. He knows exactly how airlines and their insurers evaluate — and try to minimize — these cases, because he used to sit on the other side of the table.
⚖ Airport & Airline Injury Claims
Airport Cart Injuries
Airports are high-stress, high-traffic environments — travelers rushing through security, hauling luggage, and racing to catch a connection. One of the most overlooked dangers in this environment is the motorized cart used to shuttle passengers through terminals and jetways.
These carts are typically operated not by the airport or the airline, but by a third-party vendor with minimal training requirements for its drivers. As a result, cart-related injuries happen more often than most travelers realize:
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Imprecise brakes. Golf-cart-style brakes don't stop as precisely as a car's, and drivers frequently misjudge stopping distance, striking pedestrians.
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Unsafe turns. Drivers misjudge the speed or space needed to turn safely, throwing seated passengers off the cart or hitting nearby pedestrians.
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Premature starts. Carts sometimes move before all boarding passengers are safely seated, causing falls.
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Incomplete assistance. Cart drivers are hired specifically to help elderly and disabled passengers reach their gate — but too often, they drop passengers at the top of a stairway or escalator and leave them to continue alone, resulting in falls that proper assistance would have prevented.
What to Do If You're Injured by an Airport Cart
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Seek medical attention. Most airports have on-site EMS that can respond within minutes — ask any airline or airport employee for help.
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Report the incident to airport police. This creates an official record and puts the airport authority on formal notice of your injury.
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Get the cart driver's name, or photograph their name badge if they won't provide it.
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Identify the operating company — check the driver's uniform, cart logos, or ask the airline's customer service desk.
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Request the security video immediately, in writing. Airport security footage isn't preserved indefinitely — a verbal request isn't enough. Follow up in writing right away.
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Preserve your right to a claim against the City. Many cities apply a very short statute of limitations for claims against a municipality — sometimes as little as 60 to 90 days. A formal notice letter describing the accident and your injuries must go out promptly. If you're not comfortable drafting this yourself, call us — we'll handle it.
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Call Stilwell Injury Law. Airport claims involve a tangled web of relationships between the city, the airport authority, the airlines, and their vendors, governed by a mix of state, federal, and sometimes international law. An attorney unfamiliar with aviation claims can miss deadlines and responsible parties entirely.
Passengers Needing Assistance or Wheelchairs
The Air Carrier Access Act requires airlines and airports to provide assistance to passengers who need it due to age, illness, injury, or disability — from ticketing and baggage claim through boarding and disembarking. Airlines often delegate this duty to subcontractors, but that doesn't relieve the airline of responsibility for the safety of the passengers who need this help most.
Unfortunately, failures happen constantly: a promised wheelchair that never arrives at a connecting gate, assistance that comes too late for a tight connection, or care provided by untrained staff. We've seen paralyzed passengers left unstrapped in wheelchairs, wheelchairs left unattended on inclines, and passengers dropped while being transferred between chairs, carts, or stairs.
Protecting Yourself Before You Fly
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The Air Carrier Access Act doesn't legally require advance notice, but request assistance in writing before you travel whenever possible.
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Inform the airline of your needs at the time you book your ticket.
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Call the airline again a few days before departure to confirm your request.
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When you check in, verbally confirm your request and ask the agent to document it in your passenger name record (PNR) — this ensures every airport and airline on your itinerary sees the request.
Following these steps helps, but doesn't guarantee proper care. A breach of the Air Carrier Access Act doesn't create a direct lawsuit on its own — but most courts allow that breach to define the legal duty owed to you under state law claims. Successfully asserting this kind of claim takes an attorney who genuinely understands aviation law, which is why Tom Stilwell has written and spoken extensively on the Air Carrier Access Act and how it protects passengers.
If you or a family member has been denied the assistance you needed and were hurt as a result, call Stilwell Injury Law.
Boarding and Disembarking Claims
Jetways and aircraft stairways are common sites for falls. As passengers board and leave, an aircraft's weight shifts — sinking during boarding, rising during disembarking — and the “auto-leveler” designed to keep the jetway even with the aircraft door isn't always precise, leaving an unexpected gap or step. On regional flights that require boarding via metal stairs on the tarmac, missing handrails and slick stair treads create additional fall risks, especially for elderly or disabled travelers.
If you slip, trip, or fall boarding or exiting an aircraft, seek medical attention right away and report the incident — these falls often go unwitnessed by crew, and if you don't report it, there may be no record at all. Then call Stilwell Injury Law so we can investigate what happened and protect your claim.
Overhead Bin Injuries
Airlines set rules for carry-on size and weight but rarely enforce them, leading to overstuffed bins with items too heavy or bulky to be stored safely. When those bins are opened — during boarding, mid-flight, or after landing — the results are entirely foreseeable: items fall out and strike passengers below, often causing head, neck, or shoulder injuries with no medical staff on board to help.
Airlines typically defend these claims by blaming the passenger who packed the bin, even though flight attendants have a duty to monitor what goes into overhead storage and confirm bins are properly latched before the aircraft moves.
If you're hit by something falling from an overhead bin:
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Ask for medical attention immediately — flight attendants can provide ice and can arrange for EMS to meet the flight at its next stop.
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Identify who opened the bin — get the name of the flight attendant or passenger responsible.
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Photograph the item that fell on you.
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Ask the owner what was in the bag and how much it weighed — airlines often argue carry-ons must be lightweight under their own rules, so documenting the actual weight and contents matters.
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Report the incident to the nearest flight attendant before leaving the aircraft.
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Report it again to the gate agent after deplaning.
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Get medical treatment, then follow up with the airline to submit a claim.
If the airline won't resolve your claim fairly, call Stilwell Injury Law — we know how airlines and their insurers evaluate these cases, and we make sure your claim gets the attention it deserves.
Airline Service Claims
Airlines pack more passengers into every aircraft, leaving less room for both passengers and crew. Beverage carts fill nearly the entire aisle, and passengers in aisle seats are frequently struck in the hand, elbow, or leg as carts pass. Hot coffee or tea served without a secure lid can cause serious burns. And flight attendants routinely open overhead bins mid-flight to retrieve service items — despite knowing that bins are often overpacked and that contents can shift during flight — putting seated passengers below at risk.
If you're injured during a flight, notify the nearest flight attendant, ask to complete an incident report, and seek proper medical care once you land — even if that just means a call to your regular doctor. Then report the incident to Stilwell Injury Law so we can investigate and protect your rights.
Turbulence and Landing Injuries
Autopilot systems fly most commercial aircraft today, but airlines and flight crews are still responsible for avoiding weather conditions — including severe turbulence — that they knew or should have known posed a risk to passengers. Wind shear during takeoff or landing can also cause sudden control issues; even a “successful” landing can leave passengers jolted, thrown forward, or suffering whiplash-type injuries.
These claims are difficult to prove and require an aviation attorney experienced in presenting this kind of evidence to airlines and their insurers.
Injuries During International Travel
International air travelers are protected by the Montreal Convention, a treaty ratified by 120 countries that unifies airline liability law worldwide. The Convention creates strict liability for airlines on claims up to roughly $150,000 USD, streamlines jurisdictional disputes, and requires every airline to carry liability insurance.
Most trial judges rarely encounter international treaty law and may not fully understand how strict liability changes an airline's available defenses under the Montreal Convention. Tom Stilwell has studied and written on this exact area of law. If you were injured while traveling internationally, call Stilwell Injury Law to make sure your claim is handled correctly from the start.
⚖ Free & Confidential Consultation
Injured at an Airport or on an Airline? Call Stilwell Injury Law.
Airport and airline claims involve a tangled mix of city, state, federal, and sometimes international law — and the companies involved already have experienced insurers and defense teams. You deserve that same level of experience on your side. We work on a contingency fee basis: if we don't win, you don't pay.
Call (832) 274-6749 or email tom@tsinjurylaw.com for a free, confidential consultation.