Aziz

ORDER GRANTING DEFENDANT’S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT; ORDER DENYING PLAINTIFFS’ MOTION FOR PARTIAL SUMMARY JUDGMENT

This case involves the tragic story of a passenger suffering cardiac arrest on-board a lengthy international flight and later being pronounced dead by paramedics at the arrival gate. The question before the Court is whether the airline’s failure to have onboard an automated external defibrillator (“AED”) renders it liable for the passenger’s death under international law, as established by treaty. For the reasons set forth below, the Court holds that, under the law governing this case, the aircraft is not required to have such a device in place and, therefore, awards summary judgment in favor of the airline.

I. Undisputed Facts

Air India Limited, d/b/a Air India (“Air India”), is a foreign air carrier, organized under the laws of and with its principal place of business in India, that operates aircraft in the United States pursuant to a certificate issued under Part 129 of the Federal Aviation Regulations.

On June 27, 2007, Ramazan Aziz was a passenger on board Air India Flight'137 from Frankfurt, Germany, to Los Angeles, California, traveling on a round-trip…