United Airlines passenger suffers concussion when piece of plane’s ceiling fell on her head: lawsuit

A 36-year-old traveler is suing United Airlines aft a portion of the plane’s ceiling abruptly detached, smacking into the woman’s head, knocking her retired acold and leaving her with a concussion, according to a lawsuit.

Antranique Wash is seeking up to $1 cardinal successful damages implicit the incident, which her lawyer says continues to impact her lawsuit agelong aft the fact.

Attorney Anna McMullen told The Independent that Wash mislaid consciousness aft getting deed with the sheet during a formation and that she “still struggles with imaginativeness impairment and pain, adjacent a year-and-a-half later.”

“Ms. Wash, similar each ticketed passengers, expected her level to beryllium harmless from boarding until she deplaned,” McMullen said successful an email connected Wednesday. “United did not guarantee that its level was safe, not lone for Ms. Wash, but for each of its passengers. Passengers should not person to fearfulness for their information connected commercialized aircraft, and United needs to beryllium accountable.”

Wash lives successful the Houston country and works arsenic a commercialized driver, McMullen said.

A United Airlines spokesperson did not respond to a petition for remark connected Thursday.

The alleged incidental implicit which Wash is suing occurred connected November 15, 2023, astatine the extremity of a formation from Chicago to Houston, according to a civilian complaint filed successful Harris County, Texas.

“When the level landed astatine Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport successful Harris County, Texas, a sheet fell from the ceiling and struck [Wash] successful the head,” the ailment states. “As a effect of the incident, [Wash] sustained terrible idiosyncratic injuries including but not constricted to concussion.”

United failed to “protect and defender [Wash] from the unreasonably unsafe information existing connected its plane, namely a escaped and/or dislodged ceiling tile, oregon to pass her of its existence,” the ailment argues. It says Wash “was exercising mean attraction erstwhile she was abruptly and unexpectedly injured.”

“As a effect of the aforesaid unsafe condition, [Wash] sustained terrible and imperishable injuries,” according to the complaint.

Wash’s suit accuses United Airlines of assorted forms of negligence, specified arsenic not implementing capable attraction procedures.

The bearer “owed a work to guarantee the information of its invitees done the duration of their clip wrong the airplane,” her ailment contends.

Wash is seeking a minimum of $250,000 and a maximum of $1 cardinal successful consequential and punitive damages, claiming she has suffered carnal symptom and impairment, intelligence anguish, nonaccomplishment of earning capableness and enjoyment of beingness and has been required to laic retired important sums for aesculapian expenses.

United present has until May 20 to formally respond to Wash’s allegations.

Last month, passengers aboard a Delta Air Lines formation from Atlanta to Chicago made headlines aft they were forced to clasp up parts of the cabin’s ceiling erstwhile a sheet came escaped mid-flight. Flight attendants yet re-secured the sheet utilizing duct tape, “so customers did not person to manually clasp it,” a Delta spokesperson said astatine the time.

The craft turned backmost to Atlanta, wherever passengers deplaned and boarded a antithetic formation a mates of hours later. They were each awarded 10,000 miles, worthy astir $100, for their troubles. There were nary injuries reported, according to Delta officials.

Last year, a JetBlue rider sued implicit a “life-altering” concussion she said she received during a hard landing astatine an airdrome successful South Carolina, rendering her incapable to enactment successful the aftermath.

In 2020, an American Airlines formation attendant received a concussion during turbulence, going airborne and smashing her caput against a doorway astatine the rear of the airplane. She was near with cervix and enarthrosis pain, blurred imaginativeness successful 1 eye, and ringing successful 1 of her ears.

Three years earlier, a Kentucky pulmonologist sued United for a concussion helium said airdrome constabulary gave him aft helium refused to springiness up his spot connected an overbooked flight. On apical of the caput injury, Dr. David Dao woke up successful the infirmary with a breached chemoreceptor and 2 breached teeth, his lawyer said. United yet gave Dao, who aboriginal wrote a publication astir the harrowing experience, a multimillion-dollar colony for his injuries.