Delta passenger wins $1.25 mln for landing trauma
BILLINGS, Mont., Aug 23 (Reuters) - A Montana woman who suffered emotional trauma during an emergency landing aboard a Delta Air Lines jet has been awarded $1.25 million in damages by a jury which concluded her ordeal resulted in physical injury, her lawyer said on Thursday.
Kathy Weaver, 44, was awarded the damages on Wednesday after fellow passengers testified they believed they were all going to die when their MD-11 jet made an emergency landing at a military base near Dayton, Ohio, in 1996. Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines Inc. (NYSE
AL - news) said it would appeal.
"This jury had an opportunity to listen to the evidence and concluded that Kathy had suffered greatly,'' attorney Randy Bishop told Reuters. "They were trying to get the message to Delta that they should stop disrespecting her and her claim.''
A spokeswoman for Delta said the award went beyond the provisions of the Warsaw Convention on airline liability limiting compensation to instances of physical injury. Bishop, however, argued successfully that the post-traumatic stress disorder his client suffered was in fact a physical injury.
Weaver was aboard a Delta flight from London to Cincinnati on Nov. 7, 1996 when the aircraft began experiencing mechanical problems as it neared its destination. When a passenger asked a flight attendant what was going on, "she kneeled beside me and said 'We're going to die,''' he told the jury.
Bishop said panic then spread throughout the plane. "Grown men and women were crying hysterically .... nearly everybody vomited, the stench of vomit filled the cabin,'' Bishop said. "People were calling home to say their last goodbyes.''
The cockpit crew, battling both mechanical problems which made the aircraft difficult to control and stormy weather, eventually brought the plane down at a military base near Dayton -- where passengers where immediately hustled off the plane and into a nearby hangar because of an approaching tornado.
Following the incident, Weaver said she suffered nightmares and flashbacks, leaving her unable to cope with life. Delta said Weaver's problems were from other causes.
Bishop argued Weaver's long-standing depression left her more susceptible to post-traumatic stress disorder, citing reports from her therapist saying she was unable to work at the same level as before the 1996 incident. The award comes two years after the judge in the case ruled that Weaver was entitled to damages because her terror during the landing led to physical changes within the brain that could be defined as injury.
Delta spokeswoman Cindi Kurczewski said the airline still did not believe the award was justified. "We will appeal the case...we do believe that our crew did an outstanding job in a very difficult situation that day,'' Kurczewski told Reuters.