Passenger suing American Airlines for spider bite
A passenger is aiming to sting American Airlines for half a million dollars, claiming he was bitten by a venomous spider.
Marcus Fleming of Natchez filed the lawsuit against AA and the Jackson-Medgar Wiley Evers International Airport for the incident back in September 2016.
Fleming was on a flight awaiting clearance to take-off when he says he was bitten.
He is claiming $500,000 from the airline according to the suit, which has been moved to a federal court.
"After he was bitten, he alerted the flight attendant that something had bitten him but she responded that it was probably a mosquito," the lawsuit states.
"After landing Mr. Fleming noticed that the pain in his hand became extremely painful and his thumb changed colours."
Then he was told by his doctor that immediate surgery was needed or he could lose his thumb.
It was ascertained he was bitten by the brown recuse spider, one of a few poisonous species found in Mississippi.
It can inject venom into a bite victim which left untreated in some cases can lead to death.
"American Airlines is a commercial airline and owed a duty to the public, including Fleming, to exercise due care on its flights to ensure the area in which their passengers sat were safe," the lawsuit said.
The airline told the Clarion Ledger it is reviewing the incident.
"We take the safety of our passengers very seriously," it said.
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