A New Jersey woman is suing JetBlue for negligence because she alleges she broke a tooth when she bit into a “dangerously cold” ice cream sandwich that was frozen solid at the time the flight attendant handed it to her.
Kiara Quinonez filed her lawsuit in a New York district court earlier this week, claiming that the incident should entitle her to compensation of as much as $172,000 under the Montreal Convention.
Article 17 of the Montreal Convention makes airlines liable for injuries sustained by passengers during international flights. One of the few defenses available to airlines to protect them from claims under the treaty is to prove that the passenger’s injury was a result of their own negligence.
Kiara flew with JetBlue on August 20, 2024 from New York JFK to Paris Charles de Gaulle and during the course of the first meal service, the flight attendants handed out ‘chomp size’ strawberry shortcake ice cream sandwiches made by the Nightingale Ice Cream Company.
Unbeknownst to Kiara, however, the ice cream sandwich she had been handed was frozen solid and caused her to “sustain severe bodily injuries,” according to the legal complaint.
Kiara’s bodily injury was a root fracture of tooth number 10 (upper left lateral incisor), which left her in agony for the rest of the flight and necessitated her seeking emergency medical treatment as soon as she landed in Paris.
A French dentist had to extract Kiara’s tooth and on her return to the United States, she had to have an implant inserted into the gap. Kiara is, however, still dealing with “pain, suffering and mental anguish” as a result of the incident.
For her claim under the Montreal Convention, Kiara simply has to prove that she was injured during the course of an international flight and that her injuries weren’t the result of her negligence.
Kiara is also suing JetBlue for negligence, claiming that the airline failed to serve the ice cream at a safe temperature and alleging that the flight attendants didn’t warn her that the ice cream was in a “solid-state” and at a “dangerously low temperature.”
The maximum amount of compensation that passengers can claim under Article 17 of the Montreal Convention is set at 128,821 Special Drawing Rights which is an international asset created by the IMF which represents a basket of different currencies.
At present, 128,821 Special Drawing Rights are equivalent to around $172,000. The maximum compensation limit under the Montreal Convention was last adjusted in 2019 when the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) increased the limit from 100,000 SDR.
