Opinion ID: 747145
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Pre-Death Pain and Suffering

Text: Although we have declined to consider KAL's claim that damages for pre-death pain and suffering are not available under DOHSA because it was not raised in its initial briefs, see supra at 50, we will consider its timely argument that there was insufficient evidence to support the jury awards of $100,000 for the pre-death pain and suffering of each of the three decedents in Maikovich and Oldham. As we noted in Forman, the key factual dispute turns on whether the passengers were immediately rendered unconscious. 84 F.3d at 449. Expert witnesses for the plaintiffs in Maikovich and Oldham addressed this issue. In Maikovich, one expert testified that although shrapnel from a Soviet missile had penetrated the rear of the plane, it had not caused the aircraft to explode or to disintegrate. He then stated that because Mr. and Mrs. Kohn were seated over the wing, they would have been able to don their oxygen masks after the missile attack and would have been fully conscious and aware of the events around them until the plane hit the water. Similarly, an expert for the plaintiff in Oldham testified that the shrapnel would not have reached the seat assigned to John Oldham and that the drop in pressure within the plane automatically would have caused the oxygen masks to drop in front of the passengers. A second expert in Maikovich testified that a rapid decrease in air pressure within the cabin could have resulted in ruptured [326 U.S.App.D.C. 389] eardrums, the tearing of sinus tissue and of the lungs, and a buildup of pressure in the stomach or intestines. He stated that the Kohns would have experienced physical pain from one or more of these causes and would have suffered mental pain as well. An expert in Oldham described the effects of decompression on the human body and testified that Mr. Oldham would have experienced physical pain, anxiety, and fear. Although KAL asks us to dismiss this testimony as speculative because there was nothing in the record to confirm that the three decedents had in fact survived the Soviet strike and had remained conscious and experienced pain, we find that the evidence presented in these cases was substantially similar to that which we found sufficient in Forman. See 84 F.3d at 449-50; see also Bickel, 96 F.3d at 155-56 (finding sufficient evidence of pre-death pain and suffering in same accident); Hollie v. KAL, 60 F.3d 90, 92-93 (2d Cir.1995) (same), judgment vacated on other grounds and case remanded, --- U.S. ----, 116 S.Ct. 808, 133 L.Ed.2d 754 (1996); Zicherman v. KAL, 43 F.3d 18, 23 (2d Cir.1994) (same), rev'd in part on other grounds, 516 U.S. 217, 116 S.Ct. 629, 133 L.Ed.2d 596 (1996). Accordingly, we affirm the awards.