Boeing has argued that this is speculative, and that damages shouldn’t be awarded for “pre-impact fright and terror.” An expert in human factors and aerospace physiology hired by Boeing countered the above by arguing the following:

“While passengers undoubtedly perceived the flight as scary, humans have a tendency to hold on to hope and not expect the worst. Ultimately, it is impossible to know the subjective experience of each occupant.”

Let's split the difference. We'll say half held onto hope and half were expecting certain death. So if you owe 100 billion for the pain, cut in half they owe 50 billion.

You just have to choose the correct starting number so that when it's cut in half it is still the correct punitive number.

I was at an school assembly in the bleachers and someone farted so loudly we felt the bleachers rumble. A large part of the section started muffled laughter in the middle of the presentation and the speaker stopped what they were saying to ask if everything was okay.