A passenger has filed a lawsuit against American Airlines for negligence, alleging the carrier put a Boeing 737-800 aircraft back into service despite it being in a “known dangerous and unsafe condition.”
The lawsuit was filed on Thursday in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. Plaintiffs are seeking damages for injuries incurred during a flight that made two emergency landings.
The lawsuit’s amount-in-controversy – or the amount of money at stake in the lawsuit – “exceeds $75,000,” though the plaintiff has not specified a specific dollar amount being sought.
According to a news release from Mark Lindquist Law – the law firm representing the passenger – Theresa DeMaria was on board flight 319 from Chicago O’Hare to Phoenix on Jan. 18, 2024, when the plane made an emergency landing in Tulsa, Oklahoma, which is a major maintenance base for the airline.
Around four hours after landing, American employees said the aircraft was “fixed,” according to DeMaria, but mechanics needed three more hours to test and confirm this. Thirty minutes later, the airline reboarded all passengers.
DeMaria stated in the complaint that she overheard a flight attendant say they didn’t know if the jet was fixed. When she asked them about her comment, DeMaria said the flight attendant stated “All I can tell you is if you’re feeling symptoms, we’re feeling them too.”
“After an emergency landing, a plane shouldn’t go back into service until the problem is fixed,” said Mark Lindquist, the attorney representing DeMaria, along with attorney Austin Bartlett of BartlettChen LLC, in the release. “Hoping it might be fixed isn’t good enough.”
During the flight, DeMaria started to get lightheaded and her stomach became queasy. She also felt pressure in her chest before falling asleep.
“She awoke with intense pain, her ears ringing, her head pounding, and with difficulty breathing,” the release stated. “She pressed the flight attendant call button about the same time as several other passengers. There was chaos on the plane.”
After this, the captain announced a second emergency landing in Dallas/Fort Worth, where paramedics boarded. DeMaria tried to stand, but she fainted due to oxygen depletion.
The release stated that she was administered oxygen, put in a wheelchair, and moved to a stretcher by paramedics along with other passengers.
The lawsuit alleges that American failed to ensure that the aircraft was safe and failed to properly repair and test the cabin pressurization system after the first emergency landing. Furthermore, the lawsuit alleges the carrier “failed to put passenger safety ahead of profits.”
Aircraft Went Out of Service
According to Flightradar24 data, the aircraft involved was registered as N993NN. Following the second diversion, the nine-year-old jet remained out of service for about eight days and completed a series of test flights.
“Our client wants accountability and safer planes,” Lindquist said in the release.
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The release stated DeMaria is a frequent flier who used to love flying, but now it causes her severe anxiety. She also now suffers from persistent headaches and other injuries associated with hypoxia or oxygen deprivation.
AirlineGeeks reached out to American for comment.
