Husband Injured On Flight!!

[mickeyluv]

Hello, I am so sorry that had to happen to you!!! Just wanted to let you know my experience--it's long, so I won't get into it, but if you even get your meds paid it will be nothing short of a miracle. Six years ago TODAY, I was on an American Airlines plane that crashed on landing in Little Rock, Arkansas. The pilot and ten passengers were killed. Well, after two years we settled out of court. Don't get me wrong, it was a rather large sum of money, BUT under the circumstances it was a slap in the face. I know more about the inner workings of airlines and their insurance companies than I ever would want to know, and they are out for blood!!!!!!!!!!!!! By the way, the cause of our crash was pilot error, and after they got backed in a corner they admitted guilt, and we still had to fight like heck---and believe it or not---they make you feel it is your fault. For what it would take to get anything out of them, you may be better off dropping it. Is this fair??? NO!!! But they almost ruined my life. I know the situations are different, but what it took for us to get anything considering the circumstances, I can't imagine them paying a doctor bill. But hey, you never know. But if it got ugly, I'd let it go---just for sanity!!!!!!!

Thanks for the advice. And I am sorry that you had to go through all of that with the plane crash and all.

 

[minmate]

I feel so badly for what has happened. I would think if I were in your (OP's) shoes, I would contact an attorney for legal advice on how to proceed, as I really have no idea how the situation can be best resolved. The bottom line here is that your dh was hurt, and I hope he recovers. Your dd sounds like she was traumatized by what she saw, and I hope she recovers too. As for the paramedics, when I read about how generous and thoughtful they were, I nearly cried! Thank God for people like that!

 

[daisax]

I agree about seeking legal advice (on your own AND through your own insurance company)

Southwest may very well not know who is responsible -- but there were other people on that plane, and they DO! How your attorney could get the passenger info out of them, I don't know, but I know if I witnessed such a thing, I'd certainly be happy to describe what I saw. Chances are the flight continued without your family, but with a lot of witnesses who felt bad but have no way of contacting you to offer assistance in holding the person responsible, responsible.

You're responsible for securing items in the back of your truck -- you certainly should be responsible for securing items on a shelf above somebody's head! Even a 4-5 lb bag (which is a tiny thing) can injure somebody falling from above.

As for carryon luggage in general, I agree with those who suggest that it should be mainstreamed. It would speed boarding considerably if they simply limited it to an ACTUAL carry on bag. Maybe a change of clothes, medication, and a book or two.

Overhead compartments were originally designed to serve the people in that row on that side. Now when I fly I regularly see one person's carryon bag and winter jacket taking up an entire compartment. I realize people like to skip checking their bags, but enough is enough. A backpack-sized bag is reasonable for just about everybody.

 

[CarolA]

SW is not liable and probably won't assume liablity. Otherwise they would be paying bunches of claims.

While this had a bad outcome unfortunatly it happens ALL the time. IDIOTS think that their steamer trunk is a carryon. I travel a lot and am AMAZED at what people think they should carry on. (And then when I post suggestions that folks check thier bag on the transporatation board I get flamed and get nasty PMs)

If one of these idiots ever drops thier luggage on me, I will be getting thier contact information even if I have to make the airline call the airport police. (MY personal favs are the 90 year old women who assume that someone wants to throw thier back out putting thier luggage overhead... NO I dont'!)

 

[drakethib]

I hope you and yours is okay after this ordeal.

Not an Attorney but here is my 2 cents.

SWA should have had to file an accident or incident report for their own Risk Management / Safety Department seeing that this happened on their property. This may be an OSHA requirement as well but I cannot say.

This report should list the individual’s name that dropped the suitcase. You may have to seek damage compensation from him

I honestly don't know if they can be held liable or not but I would have to assume (be careful with that word) that they have some sort of insurance for incidents such as this. You (your attorney) may just have to do some prodding.

As a note, as a person who has put some miles on a plane, there is nothing that aggravates me more then the people who try to carryon all of their luggage. IMHO, airlines should limit one carry on item at most.

Good Luck

 

[pasgt21]

This may have been covered already but have you tried submitting the bill to your own insurance and letting them collect from SWA ?

 

[rdsx28]

How horrible for you! I am so happy to hear your husband is ok. What an awful way to finish your vacation. SWA and most companies have to fill out an incident report about anything that occurs on a plane or any type of business. I am sure they must have the name of the passenger. My thought is that it is SWA problem to go after this person, not you. You were very smart to cantact a lawyer to protect your family. That was wonderful of the EMT to help you out.At least you know there are still some kind hearted people in the world. It may be nice to drop his company a note and let them know of his generosity. These people do not get enough praise for the wonderful work they do. I hope all works out for you. Good Luck!

 

[kimbac3]

No advice...Just wanted to say I'm sorry this happened to your family. I hope he is feeling better now. Great to hear about the EMTs kindness, a little silver lining is always nice.

I hope you get this all resolved quickly.
Kimba

 

[RayJay]

The next morning we get to the airport and there had been some type of Security problem, so once again we have missed our flight(11:00 flight). The same supervisor was on duty (she had told me to have her paged when we got to the airport). She put us in a dayrooom at the Hyatt in the Orlando airport so that we could get some rest and booked us for the 8:00 flight.

What an awful ordeal, what flight did you try and take and was it Saturday?We were on 2404 at 11:20 a.m to Hartford but didn't notice any security issues?

Hope everything works out for you.

RayJay

 

[taximomfor4]

Not wanting to start a debate, just to clarify the above. If someone falls at Target or Walmart, it doesn't necessarily go to their insurance policy and if a claim is made against the policy, it isn't a guarantee that any medical bills will be paid by the retailer. You have to prove that there was negligence on the part of the company involved. It also involves many other factors that are too numerous to list. Liability insurance for a retailer works similar to your homeowners policy it is based on negligence and failure to make a good faith effort to present a safe environment.

I was just going to address this. A passenger accidentally dropped his bag while stowing it. The airline might have to be proven negligent to be at fault. I d on't know for sure, a lawyer might be the best start for sure. Hopefully you found one already. I don't know about airlines and the proven negligence thing, my experience is in another situation. We gave up because we could not prove absolutely that their was negligence. Our lawyers dropped it when the proof jsut was not there. Doesn't help the situation of your dh being injured, but I just wanted you to know an unfair outcome is possible. They might decide to pay the med bills, but that might, in fact, sort of make them look as if they are admitting guilt, opening themselves up to a long future of potential ongoing pain/suffering, continuing med bills, etc.

This is one of the things usually offered when you purchase vacation insurance. It can cover things like the hotel stay if you had to stay overnight due to the injury, med bills, etc. I might have to seriously start considering that on future trips. Your story got me thinking

Oh....and That just made me think...did you purchase your tickets with a credit card? Those often have some sort of vacation insurance built right in!!

Worth looking into. Gonna go finish reading the thread now, since this is actually a delayed reply.

Beth

 

[inkkognito]

I have no advice either but just wanted to express my sympathy. Ironically, the day before I read this, my husband and I were just discussing the very same topic. On Friday, I flew Southwest and was sitting in my aisle seat when a camera in its case fell out of the overhead while the woman behind me was stowing it and hit me in the head. I was startled but okay, but it would have been a different outcome if it had been a luggage bag. The woman was very apologetic, and the flight attendant came over and started helping her stow her luggage.

As others have said, your best bet is to speak to an attorney. SW will have a record of those people who had passed through the jetway when your husband was on board, and since it wasn't too far into the boarding process, it's not unreasonable to believe that they could figure out who did this. Even if SW is not liable, the passenger certainly should be.

Barb

 

[DebbieB]

I'm sorry to hear what happened to your husband. I've been flying alot this year on business and the carryon luggage situation is crazy. The airlines have cut back flights so the planes are always close to full. So many people bring huge carryons and try to stuff them in the overheads. I saw one situation where a college age girl had stuffed the outside pockets of her carryon so full that it would not fit in the overhead no matter how she tried to fit it in. Finally an FA gave her a bag and she emptied the outside pockets and got it in. I think that they should forced her to gate check it.

It wouldn't hurt to contact an attorney, one who you only have to pay if you win. They will look at the situation and see if it's worth their time to pursue a case.

 

[gigi1313]

just have to chime in here... i know i'm late and would love if the op had a resolution to share...

a few years ago i was travelling w/my kids and my mom/dad... dad was in a swa wheelchair and an attendant was pushing him down the "tunnel" onto the plane (i wanted to push, but was told no it had to be done by airline personnel)... well, they hit a bump and dad went flying out onto his face... lost his glasses... some scrapes... had a hard time getting back up but we got him back into the chair, onto the plane, and off we went... we asked REPEATEDLY about filing an incident report and a supervisor type came on the plane to see how he was doing... they inquired at landing if he was okay, but never did they allow us to fill out ANYTHING! fortunately, he did not need medical attention and he did not suffer any long-term problems from it (he was already disabled, it did not "disable" him more) and we were not looking for any type of "settlement" but would have liked to officially file something in the event that there were repercussions... unfortunately, that was not an option! we were not pleased!

 

[calgarygary]

You have to prove that there was negligence on the part of the company involved. It also involves many other factors that are too numerous to list. Liability insurance for a retailer works similar to your homeowners policy it is based on negligence and failure to make a good faith effort to present a safe environment.

Couldn't be easier to prove. If you recall, one of the last steps flight attendants do is to make sure that items are safely stowed. However the airlines have a legal responsibility in doing this throughout the boarding process. Negligence exists in the very act of allowing the public to stow their own items as such an event can be anticipated. However before you seek a lawyer, a well written letter (not an email) delivered by courier, should get an official response from the airline with a reasonable offer. I would suggest including a copy of the hospital bill and a suggestion that lawyers need not prosper from further correspondence. After you have sent the letter, I would suggest searching similar claims to determine if SW responds with a reasonable offer. Should they fail to do so, then seek the advice of a lawyer.