Douglass v. Delta Air Lines, Inc.

JERRY E. SMITH, Circuit Judge:

This dispute arose as a consequence of a fatal commercial airline crash. We are asked to decide whether the measure of wrongful-death damages awarded to a decedent’s immediate family comports with Texas law; with two notable exceptions, we conclude that it is. We depart with the district court, first, in its assessment of lost inheritance, which, we conclude, erroneously incorporates a measure of double recovery. Second, we find the recovery for lost society and companionship secured by the minor children to be far in excess of what state law tolerates, and such…