Report: Airlines Settle $6M Lawsuit Over Death Of Obese Woman Kept From Flying

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Three airlines have settled a $6 million lawsuit brought by the husband of a woman who was stranded in Hungary when Delta, KLM Royal Dutch and Lufthansa said she was too fat to fly. The 407-pound woman had diabetes and kidney disease, and passed away nine days after trying to return to her the United States to seek treatment from her doctors.

According to the New York Daily News, the Bronx man settled a wrongful death suit against the three airlines late last month.

The suit had accused Delta, KLM and Lufthansa of sending his 407-pound wife “on a debilitating ‘wild goose chase’ from airline to airline, airport to home, and country to country” that allegedly led to her death in October 2012. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The woman was wheelchair bound, and attempted to get on her KLM flight home with her husband after their vacation in Hungary. The lawsuit blamed KLM for having seat backs that were broken in their row, that made it impossible to maneuver her wheelchair.

“When informed of the problem, the KLM employees did not offer to change their seats,” the lawsuit claimed, and instead told the couple to get off the plane. After a five-hour wait, they were given a new scheduled departure on Delta the next day out of Prague, five hours away. Delta was made aware of her medical condition, the complaint alleged, and said it wouldn’t be an issue to get her home.

However, that attempt to board failed as well, as “Delta did not have an adequate or proper wheelchair” to transport her, the suit said. So they went back to their vacation home, and another flight was scheduled on Lufthansa for Oct. 22, a week later. Again, the husband said they were told it wouldn’t be a problem to accommodate them.

That situation didn’t work out either, with the lawsuit claiming that the pilot interrupted the boarding process when it was almost complete and told the couple to disembark, as other passengers had connecting flights to catch and there couldn’t be any more delays.

The woman fell sick soon after, her husband says, and she passed away on Oct. 24, nine days after she was supposed to see her doctor in New York.

EXCLUSIVE: Airlines settle $6M lawsuit in death of Bronx woman who was ‘too fat’ to fly home to the U.S. [New York Daily News]

by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist