How can a passenger’s own actions reduce an airline’s liability for damage?

In the context of air law, a passenger’s own actions can reduce an airline’s liability through the principle of contributory negligence.12

Under the Warsaw Convention, which governs the international carriage of passengers and baggage, an air carrier is prima facie liable for injury, death, or loss of property occurring during flight. However, the carrier’s liability may be excluded in whole or in part if the airline can prove that the injured person was wholly or partly to blame for the damage.2

This application of contributory negligence ensures that liability is apportioned based on the passenger's failure to observe a standard of prudence for their own safety. Similarly, the 1952 Rome Convention, which addresses surface damage caused by aircraft, also accepts the principle of contributory negligence as an exception to the operator's absolute liability.12