Airlines Settle Wrongful Death Suit After Refusing Flight
Posted on Sep 23, 2014 4:35pm PDT
Three airlines have settled a $6 million dollar lawsuit in the death of a woman that was refused flight back to the United States due to her weight. A wrongful death lawsuit can occur when a person dies due to the misconduct or negligence of another person.
Woman Deemed Too Big to Fly
Delta, KLM Royal Dutch, and Lufthansa airlines were slapped with a wrongful death lawsuit after each of the airlines refused to accompany the 407-pound woman on their flights. The woman became ill while in Hungary and needed to return to her home in the Bronx in order to receive medical treatment. She was cleared to fly, but remained untreated by the time of her death in late October.
The woman and her husband flew to Hungary in September 2012, with two tickets bought for the woman to accompany her weight. The woman began to feel sick October 2 and a doctor in Hungary deemed her able to fly home on October 15th. The woman got on a KLM Dutch airline that day and discovered that the two seats were broken, leaving her unable to move from her wheelchair to the seats. The airline removed the couple from the flight.
The couple was informed that they would be able to make a flight out of Prague the next day flying on Delta Airlines. Delta had been informed of the woman's situation prior to booking the flight. After driving five hours to Prague, Delta was unable to transport the wife to her seats on the plane and turned them away from the flight.
The couple returned to Hungary and made arrangements to travel to New York on October 22 with Lufthansa. This time, medics and firefighters were present to get the woman to her seat, but the captain of the plane informed the woman that she was causing an extensive delay to the flight and would need to disembark.
On October 24th, the woman was found dead in her bed in Hungary. The airlines were charged with being responsible for her death by showing a disregard for her health and refusing to make the proper accommodations for the woman despite knowing her medical situation. The airlines have claimed that the physical inability to accommodate the woman did not warrant a wrongful death lawsuit.