§762. Amount and apportionment of recovery

(a) The recovery in such suit shall be a fair and just compensation for the pecuniary loss sustained by the persons for whose benefit the suit is brought and shall be apportioned among them by the court in proportion to the loss they may severally have suffered by reason of the death of the person by whose representative the suit is brought.

(b)(1) If the death resulted from a commercial aviation accident occurring on the high seas beyond 12 nautical miles from the shore of any State, or the District of Columbia, or the Territories or dependencies of the United States, additional compensation for nonpecuniary damages for wrongful death of a decedent is recoverable. Punitive damages are not recoverable.

(2) In this subsection, the term "nonpecuniary damages" means damages for loss of care, comfort, and companionship.

(Mar. 30, 1920, ch. 111, §2, 41 Stat. 537 ; Pub. L. 106–181, title IV, §404(b), Apr. 5, 2000, 114 Stat. 131 .)

Amendments

2000-Pub. L. 106–181 designated existing provisions as subsec. (a) and added subsec. (b).

Effective Date of 2000 Amendment

Amendment by Pub. L. 106–181 applicable to any death occurring after July 16, 1996, see section 404(c) of Pub. L. 106–181, set out as a note under section 761 of this Appendix.

Section Referred to in Other Sections

This section is referred to in section 765 of this Appendix.