Airlines settle 6 million dollar wrongful death lawsuit
The husband of a woman who died overseas after being banned from flying back to the US for being too fat has settled a $6 million lawsuit, court records show.
Janos Soltesz brought a wrongful death suit against Delta, KLM and Lufthansa airlines after all refused to fly 407-pound Vilma Soltesz home to New York from Hungary in October 2012.
Vilma 56, died in Hungary after being refused travel by all three airlines.
The court action alleged the airlines had shown "a willful, wanton and reckless disregard" for Vilma’s health and "intentionally refused to make the proper accommodations for her."
In a widely publicized case, the couple were due to fly back by KLM from Budapest airport.
However the back of two booked seats in her row were broken and she was unable to move into the seats from her wheelchair, the suit alleged.
"KLM employees did not offer to change their seats," and were asked to get off the aircraft.
The couple were then told they would be accommodated on a Delta flight the next day from Prague, a five-hour drive away.
This was also to prove fruitless as "Delta did not have an adequate or proper wheelchair to transport Vilma to her seat."
Almost a week later, on October 22 a third attempt was made on a Lufthansa flight but due to the time taking to board her involving several airport employees, the captain ordered the couple to disembark as "other passengers need to catch a connecting flight and cannot be delayed further."
Two days later Vilma died while still in Hungary, nine days after the couple were originally due to return to the US.
The terms of the deal have not been disclosed and neither the Soltesz’s lawyer or the airlines have made a comment.
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Editor for TravelMole North America and Asia pacific regions. Ray is a highly experienced (15+ years) skilled journalist and editor predominantly in travel, hospitality and lifestyle working with a huge number of major market-leading brands. He has also cover in-depth news, interviews and features in general business, finance, tech and geopolitical issues for a select few major news outlets and publishers.
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