In Vanderwall v. United Airlines, Inc., a passenger brought common law negligence and Montreal Convention claims to recover for a torn ACL sustained when she slipped on a piece of plastic wrap in the aisle as she returned from the lavatory during a flight from Houston, Texas to London, England. The cabin lighting was dimmed to allow for sleeping at the time of the incident. Plaintiff testified that she did not see the wrapper when she left her seat to use the lavatory, and that she had substantial experience flying on commercial flights. The court granted United's motion for summary judgment, holding that the incident did not constitute a Montreal Convention "accident" because it was not "unexpected or unusual" for trash to be present on the floor of an aircraft during a long international flight. The record showed that there was not an exorbitant amount of litter on the floor, and that the flight attendants complied with airline and industry standards for walking the cabin to collect trash. The court dismissed the negligence claims as preempted by the Convention. Vanderwall v. United Airlines, Inc., 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 8494 (S.D. Fla. Jan. 26, 2015).
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