Doesn't matter what anybody thinks.

The airline must prove, in a court of law, that it was harmed financially by the TV clip. It must put a dollar value on the damages.

Not very easy to do and convince a jury or a judge.

While "actual damages" could be nominal, the station's conduct may satisfy the test for exemplary/punitive damages, which would result in an award to "punish" rather than compensate. The punishment award can be based on the net worth of the broadcasting company.

If the plaintiff can't show any direct "actual damages", my thought is that it would be difficult to extract punitive damages.

I'm sure you'll find an exception. Lawyers are good at that.

Brian, I was not commenting on whether a party would be successful, just stating that outrageous conduct can result in a non-compensatory exemplary award. The standard is pretty high, as one may imagine, typically consisting of reckless behavior, to the extent that it "shocks the conscience" of the average person.

The station, it could be argued, did not exhibit reckless behavior when they simply aired the information provided by the NTSB. If anyone is culpable here, it's the NTSB.

IMHO (worthless, I already know), they'll never get punitive damages in this case.

Good luck delineating the financial damage caused by the TV clip from the financial damage caused by international coverage of their inability to properly land an airplane...

Precisely.