# Would you accept this settlement? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 20, 2009, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-accept-this-settlement/482181 "2009-01-20T19:02:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![pbbth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f9ae1b/32.png) [@pbbth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pbbth)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2009, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-accept-this-settlement/482181/21 "2009-01-20T20:49:11Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > Would you feel the same way if it turns out that before saving your life, the airline was the one that put you in danger? > > Suppose the investigation reveals that yes, there was a problem in the engine two days before, which may have contributed to the engine failure that caused the crash, but that the airline didn’t take the plane out of service for a proper maintenance check. > > In other words, that not only did these people save your life with their skill and equipment, but that their faulty equipment and lack of proper maintenance is what put your life in danger in the first place - would you feel that saving your life cancelled out putting it in jeopardy in the first place? Honestly, I would still be happy with the 5 grand. If I sued everyone who ever made a mistake and almost caused me to run off the road or put me in a situation where I could have died I would have to sue about a third of the people driving around Dallas right now. I think that if the airline is found negligent they should be fined or whatever but it seems to be an honest mistake from which passengers would have had no right to profit. ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2009, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-accept-this-settlement/482181/22 "2009-01-20T21:03:00Z")
I would be pleased they think so highly of my luggage. ---
**Author:** ![wring](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/838e76/32.png) [@wring](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wring)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2009, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-accept-this-settlement/482181/23 "2009-01-20T21:03:41Z")
> [@pbbth](#): > > passengers would have had no right to profit. You see this as a method of profit? Huh. Some one does something wrong and I’m injured (physical, monetarily, etc), there should be compensation. I think physical and monetary items are mostly clear cut. But I do believe that being scared shitless, thinking I"m about to die is also a “bad thing” - and if some one did that intentionally or through neglect, and “opps, my bad” ain’t gonna cut it. ---
**Author:** ![pbbth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f9ae1b/32.png) [@pbbth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pbbth)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2009, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-accept-this-settlement/482181/24 "2009-01-20T21:10:49Z")
> [@wring](#): > > You see this as a method of profit? Huh. Some one does something wrong and I’m injured (physical, monetarily, etc), there should be compensation. I think physical and monetary items are mostly clear cut. But I do believe that being scared shitless, thinking I"m about to die is also a “bad thing” - and if some one did that intentionally or through neglect, and “opps, my bad” ain’t gonna cut it. If they died or were injured I could see the point of a settlement. Being scared for 20 minutes because of an act of goose doesn’t mean anyone owes you anything, especially since they are being paid for their missing luggage. People are not born into this world in a plastic bubble where they are given the right not to be frightened. Making hundreds of thousands of dollars from a lawsuit over 20 minutes of fright and a couple of hours of inconvenience is ri-goddamn-diculous IMHO. If they wanted to ask for money to pay for a few months worth of therapy I could understand that, but huge sums of money for an accident that didn’t cause a single injury or death is overkill. ---
**Author:** ![Snickers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Snickers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snickers)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2009, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-accept-this-settlement/482181/25 "2009-01-20T21:19:16Z")
What? They’re offering money? Wow. After reading, I now see that the sum is to replace lost baggage, which I guess is fair. Would I accept it? Probably not. I’d thank them for their consideration, then return any and all funds offered back to them because I wouldn’t want nor need it. So I lost some stuff - big whoop. I don’t travel with anything particularly valuable, and I can replace the clothes and toiletries myownself. I really dislike this society of litigiousness we’ve created. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2009, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-accept-this-settlement/482181/26 "2009-01-20T21:21:26Z")
I’d need to find out first if my company would want a cut, after taxes, to cover the cost of replacing my corporate laptop and the software on it, and if so, how much that’d be. Hopefully getting an answer from my company would stall the decision long enough to determine whether or not it was US Airways’ fault; if it was, I’d be taking the $5,000 for myself, and my company could sue the airline for replacement of their property. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2009, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-accept-this-settlement/482181/27 "2009-01-20T21:39:34Z")
> [@wring](#): > > You see this as a method of profit? Huh. Some one does something wrong and I’m injured (physical, monetarily, etc), there should be compensation. That’s true, but who did anything wrong? ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2009, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-accept-this-settlement/482181/28 "2009-01-20T21:43:44Z")
> [@Snickers](#): > > After reading, I now see that the sum is to replace lost baggage, which I guess is fair. Would I accept it? Probably not. I’d thank them for their consideration, then return any and all funds offered back to them because I wouldn’t want nor need it. So I lost some stuff - big whoop. I don’t travel with anything particularly valuable, and I can replace the clothes and toiletries myownself. I feel much the same way; I wouldn’t be traveling with anything near that value, and would feel very strongly that it wasn’t necessary to compensate me with that amount of money. In the end, though, I would accept the money. I’d feel it would be rude not to accept. Couldn’t say why, exactly, but I’m sure it would be rude. Yes. Very, very rude. Mustn’t be rude, now. ---
**Author:** ![Acid\_Lamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Acid\_Lamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acid_Lamp)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2009, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-accept-this-settlement/482181/29 "2009-01-20T21:47:32Z")
I’d wave all right to suit for the 5K and free flights for life. After all it’s so umlikely that something like that would ever happen again to me that the free tickets would come in handy when I need to travel. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2009, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-accept-this-settlement/482181/30 "2009-01-20T21:48:46Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > I’d need to find out first if my company would want a cut, after taxes, to cover the cost of replacing my corporate laptop and the software on it, and if so, how much that’d be. Since it’s compensation for a loss, I think you wouldn’t owe any taxes on it. ---
**Author:** ![wring](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/838e76/32.png) [@wring](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wring)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2009, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-accept-this-settlement/482181/31 "2009-01-20T22:03:19Z")
If the accident occured because of a flock of geese, I’d agree that it’s an accident. However, if it’s shown the company ignored problems w/the engine, then it’s a different matter entirely, IMHO. And compensation for believing you’re going to die would be reasonable, again, IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2009, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-accept-this-settlement/482181/32 "2009-01-20T22:05:30Z")
> [@friedo](#): > > The $5,000 is not a settlement, it’s compensation for lost and/or soaked luggage, which they won’t even get back yet because the NTSB needs to keep it for a while. I probably wouldn’t settle for $5K. I believe that my CPAP alone costs that much, and I’d want to be able to replace what I’ve lost. If they offered a reasonable amount, then I’d settle. My daily meds are in my carryon baggage, and I don’t know enough about the incident to know if the passengers were able to grab such things. If it cost me less than $5K to replace my stuff, and my stuff actually was replaceable, then yes, I’d settle for that for baggage compensation. Even if it cost me a little more than five grand, I’d probably be happy to get that compensation, and that bit of paperwork, behind me. ---
**Author:** ![WF\_Tomba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/d9b06d/32.png) [@WF\_Tomba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WF_Tomba)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2009, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-accept-this-settlement/482181/33 "2009-01-20T22:11:48Z")
I wouldn’t even think of demanding more unless I actually suspected that the incident was due to negligence, and even then I don’t think a few minutes of fright is worth more than $5000 compensation. It’s not like the airline hasn’t been financially punished by this incident. That plane cost tens of millions of dollars. ---
**Author:** ![wring](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/838e76/32.png) [@wring](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wring)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2009, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-accept-this-settlement/482181/34 "2009-01-20T22:15:43Z")
> [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#): > > II don’t know enough about the incident to know if the passengers were able to grab such things. > > . the plane was emptied w/in a very short time, I believe almost no one was able to retrieve anything. I know I didn’t see anyone carrying anthing (except children) standing out on the wing of the plane. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2009, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-accept-this-settlement/482181/35 "2009-01-20T22:25:33Z")
> [@friedo](#): > > Since it’s compensation for a loss, I think you wouldn’t owe any taxes on it. I believe that’s correct. I know that in general proceeds of a lawsuit aren’t taxed because the money is considered compensation for a loss – a would assume a settlement agreement would be the same. 5 grand doesn’t feel like enough, but it’s not far off. I would want to throw a huge “I’m still alive!” party with an open bar. I’d settle for 15 grand. ---
**Author:** ![Mtgman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5a626/32.png) [@Mtgman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mtgman)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2009, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-accept-this-settlement/482181/36 "2009-01-20T22:33:15Z")
I’d endorse the check and then send it to the pilot to be passed on to the recipient of his choice. Favorite nephew, niece, charity, kid’s college fund, etc. The man saved every life on that plane, and that’s worth more than any luggage I’d ever be taking anywhere. Enjoy, Steven ---
**Author:** ![SmellMyWort](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea5d25/32.png) [@SmellMyWort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmellMyWort)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2009, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-accept-this-settlement/482181/37 "2009-01-20T22:43:18Z")
I think 5K to cover luggage seems fair. I would still want to have a chance to go through my bags after they’re done with them to retrieve things not damaged by water. ---
**Author:** ![GargoyleWB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gargoylewb/32/199_2.png) [@GargoyleWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GargoyleWB)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2009, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-accept-this-settlement/482181/38 "2009-01-20T22:46:42Z")
> [@lieu](#): > > For what **wring** mentioned near paragraph end. A couple of days earlier the engine in the exact same plane made some booming noises that scared that group of passengers but good. … Thanks, I didn’t know of that development. In that case, I defer my armchairing until after the NTSB investigation. ---
**Author:** ![Lightnin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightnin/32/180_2.png) [@Lightnin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightnin)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2009, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-accept-this-settlement/482181/39 "2009-01-20T22:59:26Z")
As has already been pointed out, the $5k isn’t a settlement, it’s to pay for the lost luggage. That said, while I’m not normally one to turn down free money, I’m pretty sure I \*would \*settle for the $5000. Sure, any amount of money over that would be nice, but the main thing is that I would, for the rest of my life, have a kickass story to tell at parties. That’s worth far more than any settlement, in my mind. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2009, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-accept-this-settlement/482181/40 "2009-01-20T23:16:42Z")
> [@spooje](#): > > Unless they were injured, all they deserve to be compensated for is lost luggage and a different flight out. Maybe not even the flight out. Don’t forget, in an event like this (or even one a bit less traumatic) what is necessary/ethical/right/etc may very well be trumped by what is best for the company as far as their PR is concerned. Sure, they could have made everyone on board submit a claim form and then they could have asked everyone for receipts to prove this or that, or they could just give each person $5k and look like good guys. I’d imagine it would balance out. With how long they would spend going back and forth, it’s probably just easier not to argue and just offer them more then enough. Also, I’m willing to bet that by cashing this check you waive your chance to get your luggage back. After they’re done doing whatever it is they’ll do with it it’s probably all going in the garbage or to charities. This will save them considerable time and shipping cost. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-accept-this-settlement/482181.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-accept-this-settlement/482181.md?page=3)