In the case of HARKA AIR SERVICE (NIG) LTD V. EMEKA KEAZOR Esq (2011) 13 NWLR Part 1264 p. 320 at p. 364, the Supreme Court, per Rhodes-Vivour JSC gave the following view on what constitutes willful misconduct: “Willful misconduct is a deliberate wrongful act by a pilot, airline staff or its agent, which gives rise to a claim for damages by passengers. When a staff of an airline acts with reckless indifference, such unacceptable behavior especially by a professional person amounts to willful misconduct.”
DEFINITION OF WILLFUL MISCONDUCT
Horabin v BOAC (1952) 2 All ER 1016 at 1020 as follows: “Wilful misconduct is misconduct to which the will is a party and it is wholly different in kind from mere negligence or carelessness, however gross that negligence or carelessness may be… To be guilty of wilful misconduct, the person concerned must appreciate that he is acting wrongfully, or is wrongfully omitting to act, and yet persists in so acting or omitting to act regardless of the consequences, or acts or omits to act with reckless indifference as to what the result may be; all the problems… must be considered in the light of that definition.”