An American Airlines passenger is suing his seatmate for negligence after accusing him of drinking so much that he lost physical control of his body and ended up falling on top of the victim, rupturing one of his bicep tendons and leaving him with permanent injuries.
Michael Marsh recently filed a lawsuit in a Maine district court, seeking substantial damages from his seatmate aboard American Airlines flight AA2306 from Dallas Fort Worth to Boston in July 2023.
In the civil complaint, Marsh claims his seatmate was already intoxicated when he boarded the plane but continued to drink four servings of liquor before needing to get up to use the restroom.
As he stood up, however, he allegedly ‘lost physical control’ of his body and fell on top of Marsh, leaving him with multiple injuries, including a complete left bicep rupture and lacerations.
In response to the complaint, the defendant has admitted having something to drink but denies being intoxicated and instead claims that a “sudden medical emergency” caused him to fall over.
Even then, the defendant denies that the victim’s injuries were caused by the incident onboard the plane.
Unlike similar lawsuits, Marsh is not currently pursuing a lawsuit against American Airlines for negligence. Commonly, the airline and its staff are blamed in this type of incident for having allowed an intoxicated person to board the aircraft in the first place and then continuing to serve them alcohol.
Earlier this month, it emerged that a woman was pursuing a lawsuit against Alaska Airlines after she was subjected to an awful sexual assault onboard one of the Seatle-based carrier’s flights.
During a May 2023 flight from Seattle to Honolulu, the unnamed woman alleges that a man sitting on the opposite side of the aisle grabbed and groped her breast after flight attendants repeatedly served him wine throughout the flight.
The woman is pursuing damages against the perpetrator, as well as Alaska Airlines “for grossly overserving alcohol and failing to protect the victim.”
I’m female–and I would have been terrified if a drunk man fell on top of me. I do wish airlines would do a better job of drunks/drinking too much on a plane.
I guess a hunker down in my window seat!