When flights are being diverted due to passengers throwing tantrums over the in-flight meal or reclining seats, it would be safe to assume that any medical emergency would be a reason to land an airliner as soon as possible. However, this isn’t always the case. A 67-year-old California chef suffered two strokes during a transatlantic American Airlines flight in 2021. The flight was never diverted. A federal jury ordered that the airline pay $11 million to the passenger. He survived the ordeal, but can no longer speak or write and requires constant care.
Jesus Plasencia and his wife were flying from Miami to Madrid in November 2021. According to the Los Angeles Times, Plasencia suffered a “mini-stroke” while the plane was still at the gate. Despite temporarily losing the ability to speak, the crew onboard didn’t contact medical personnel. The pilot instead cleared the passenger for take-off. Plasencia would have another stroke during the flight. This time, the cabin crew didn’t inform the pilot of what happened.
Medical care was delayed by eight hours
When the American Airlines flight landed in the Spanish capital, Plasencia was hospitalized in critical condition, where he remained for over three weeks. He remains dependent on around-the-clock in-home care. In court, the couple’s lawyers argued that a better medical outcome could’ve been possible if care hadn’t been delayed by eight hours. Jurors determined that American Airlines was negligent under the Montreal Convention, a 1999 international treaty that established rules for airline liability. The Convention’s Article 17, Paragraph 1 states:
“The carrier is liable for damage sustained in case of death or bodily injury of a passenger upon condition only that the accident which caused the death or injury took place on board the aircraft or in the course of any of the operations of embarking or disembarking.”
The jury didn’t find American entirely at fault. According to Business Insider, the couple was awarded $13.28 million in damages. However, that amount was reduced by 27.5% because partial responsibility was assigned to the couple. With interest, the airline was ordered to pay $11 million. This could have been avoided if the cabin crew had been more cautious or the couple had thrown a fit over the lack of concern. As mentioned at the start, a disgruntled business class passenger on a 2023 long-haul United Airlines flight forced an emergency landing because his preferred meal choice was unavailable.
