Federal Laws Addressing Liability

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The Airline Transportation Safety and System Stabilization Act of 2001

Shortly after the terrorist attacks on America on September 11, 2001, Congress enacted the Airline Transportation Safety and System Stabilization Act of 2001, Pub. L. No. 107-42, to establish an administrative fund to provide a quick, no-fault recovery to persons injured or killed in the attacks. The Act also provided airline carriers whose planes were involved in the attacks with civil liability protections from September 11th terrorism-related lawsuits. These protections included: (1) limiting the liability for all claims arising from the September 11th attacks to the limits of the carriers' liability insurance coverage; (2) creating an exclusive federal cause of action for damages arising out of the September 11th-related hijackings and air crashes, based on the substantive law of the state where the crashes occurred; and (3) vesting exclusive jurisdiction for all September 11th-related claims in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.