46 U.S.C. § 30307
Section 30307 · Commercial aviation accidents
This is the Death on the High Seas Act
Amended 1 time on record
Applied in 9 court decisions — leading case United States Aviation Underwriters, Inc. v. Pilatus Business Aircraft, Ltd. (2009)
Most recently applied in Kennedy v. Carnival Corp. (March 2019)
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year.Markers show enactment, consequential amendments, and circuit splits over this section — watch for a citation surge after a change or a disagreement. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
(a) Definition.—In this section, the term “nonpecuniary damages” means damages for loss of care, comfort, and companionship.
(b) Beyond 12 Nautical Miles.—In an action under this chapter, if the death resulted from a commercial aviation accident occurring on the high seas beyond 12 nautical miles from the shore of the United States, additional compensation is recoverable for nonpecuniary damages, but punitive damages are not recoverable.
(c) Within 12 Nautical Miles.—This chapter does not apply if the death resulted from a commercial aviation accident occurring on the high seas 12 nautical miles or less from the shore of the United States.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
SectionSource (U.S. Code)Source (Statutes at Large) 30307(a) 46 App.:762(b)(2). Mar. 30, 1920, ch. 111, §§1(b), 2(b); as added Pub. L. 106–181, title IV, §404(a)(2), (b)(2), Apr. 5, 2000, 114 Stat. 131. 30307(b) 46 App.:762(b)(1). 30307(c) 46 App.:761(b). In subsections (b) and (c), the words “the United States” are substituted for “any State, or the District of Columbia, or the Territories or dependencies of the United States” because of the definition of “United States” in chapter 1 of the revised title.
In subsection (b), the words “of a decedent” are omitted as unnecessary.
In subsection (c), the words “if the death resulted from a commercial aviation accident occurring on the high seas” are substituted for “In the case of a commercial aviation accident, whenever the death of a person shall be caused by wrongful act, neglect, or default occurring on the high seas” for consistency with subsection (b) and to eliminate unnecessary words. The words “and the rules applicable under Federal, State, and other appropriate law shall apply” are omitted as unnecessary.