Earbleeds, concussions and emotional trauma: A group of passengers on an Alaska Airlines flight that lost a door mid-flight last week filed a lawsuit against the plane's manufacturer, Boeing, on Thursday.
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“Shocked, terrified and confused, the passengers plunged into a waking nightmare, hoping they would live long enough to walk the Earth again. Some prayed. Some sent text messages to their families.” […] Some of them were grabbing and clinging to each other, Forbes reported.
On Thursday, six passengers on an Alaska Airlines flight, which was forced to make an emergency landing last Friday after a door broke off mid-flight between Portland, Oregon, and Ontario, California, asked the plane manufacturer to compensate the 171 passengers on board. The Seattle Times noted this.
In fact, the court document expresses regret that their passage on board the Boeing 737 MAX 9 would have “caused physical injury to some passengers and emotional trauma to most, if not all, on board,” Forbes noted.
Passengers reported bruises following the crash, while one pursuer said her head was shaken so badly that she suffered a concussion, soft tissue injuries to her neck and back, and bleeding in one ear, according to The Seattle Times.
Several of them also complained of running out of oxygen due to a problem with their emergency masks, and a few of them lost consciousness, the court document said.
“This nightmarish experience has caused ongoing economic, physical and emotional consequences that have understandably affected our clients,” attorney Daniel Lawrence, who represents the passengers, said in a statement, according to the Seattle Times.
American media indicated that the class action lawsuit would blame only Boeing for the accident, omitting Alaska Airlines.
The plane's manufacturer has not commented on the legal proceedings, but its CEO, Dave Calhoun, admitted earlier this week that the accident occurred due to an “error” by Boeing, and that the company would have handled the situation “by admitting our mistake.” “, according to what was reported by the Seattle Times.
The lawsuit therefore seeks compensation for the 171 passengers as well as their spouses or civil partners, for all physical and mental health treatments, as well as financial losses associated with the accident.
