British Airways is being sued by the family of a passenger who died of an asthma attack during a flight from London to New York JFK in June 2023 over allegations that cabin crew failed to provide proper medical care and contravened the airline’s policies as he begged for help while gasping for air.
According to recently filed court documents, Shimon Breuer died aboard British Airways flight BA179 on June 25, 2023, after he suffered an asthma attack with just an hour left of the transatlantic flight.
The complaint alleges that the flight attendants were aware of just how severe Shimon’s asthma attack was and the fact that immediate medical attention was required, but his family claims the crew ignored standard airline industry policies in providing him care.
“British [Airways] crew members failed to provide Decedent [Shimon] with prompt and proper medical attention despite the outward signs that Decedent was in visible stress, had trouble breathing and was at risk of serious harm and death,” the complaint alleges.
Despite crew members recognizing that Shimon was “suffering a life-threatening emergency,” the lawsuit claims flight attendants failed to make an announcement requesting the help of a medical professional and didn’t get in touch with specialist medical advisors via an emergency telemedicine provider.
Shimon’s family also claims that flight attendants would have had access to life-saving medicines in an onboard medical kit but failed to ‘deploy’ these medicines as they treated Shimon.
To make matters worse, the pilots allegedly failed to declare a medical emergency, which would have given the aircraft priority in landing at New York JFK and ensured that first responders were waiting to meet the plane on arrival.
The lawsuit describes the agony that Shimon felt in his final moment, begging for help and gasping for air as he experienced “fear of impending death.”
His estate is bringing a claim against British Airways under Article 17 of the Montreal Convention, which makes airlines liable for death or injury sustained by pilots during the course of an international flight.
The maximum amount of compensation that can be claimed under Article 17 of the Montreal Convention is set at 128,821 Special Drawing Rights, which is an international asset created by the IMF that 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.
The lawsuit is also being brought against American Airlines because Shimon had bought his ticket from the Fort Worth-based carrier under a codeshare agreement in which British Airways operated the flight.
The British Airways website boasts that “crew members need to be able to provide excellent First Aid care whilst under pressure,” with skills including being able to properly assess a casualty, recognizing various medical conditions, and training in real-life scenarios.
British Airways did not respond to a request for comment.
Sounds a lot like one side of a story. I’m quite curious about other factors such as the man’s age, health, and specific history with asthma. Without knowing any of those I’m going to go out on a limb here and suppose that the man was older and that this was not his first attack. If both assertions are correct then shouldn’t the man have had medication at hand for just such a situation? I suppose it could have been a circumstance where a young healthy man just happened to have a first-ever attack while over the Atlantic but that seems rather unlikely. I’m not trying to vilify the dead man. I’m just wondering if this is a frivolous lawsuit.
British Airways should pay far more than tens of millions for the flight attendant’s inhumane treatment of the passenger! The FAs should go to jail for manslaughter.
Important to note that plaintiffs can surpass the cap on damages if the airline cannot prove that it wasn’t negligent in causing or allowing the accident. This detail is consistently left out of stories here and it’s really important.