A man, whose nose was broken as an electric door closed on him, has been awarded €19,000 compensation for an injury at Dublin Airport after a hearing at the Circuit Civil Court.
Thomas Smyth (63) and his wife Evelyn had travelled down to Dublin Airport from County Cavan in January 2011, to fly to a holiday destination in the Canary Islands. The couple were on their way to board their flight when an automatically-timed electric door suddenly closed on Thomas – breaking his nose.
Thomas was taken to the Beaumont Hospital in Dublin where the fracture was confirmed, and the couple had to delay their holiday plans for two days while Joseph received treatment and their flights could be re-arranged. Eventually the couple arrived in Tenerife, but their holiday had been ruined by the incident at the airport.
On his return to Ireland, Thomas sought legal advice, and made a claim for compensation for an injury at Dublin Airport against both Aer Lingus – the company with whom the couple were originally flying to Tenerife – and the Dublin Airport Authority. Both parties agreed that an injury due to negligence had occurred, but neither wanted to admit liability.
At the Circuit Civil Court in Dublin, Judge Jacqueline Linnane was told that a settlement of €19,000 compensation for an injury at Dublin Airport had been agreed to be appropriate; but the question of who was to be considered liable for Thomas´ injury had still to be determined.
After hearing evidence that the door which had automatically closed on Thomas was working properly, and was timed to close after 30 minutes once it had been opened by an Aer Lingus flight attendant, Judge Linnane found the flight company responsible for Thomas´ broken nose. She stated that if Aer Lingus needed longer than thirty minutes to get the passengers on their plane, they should have asked Dublin Airport Authority to extend the time available to them.