Fat passenger on a VS flight causes women permenant injuiries

RE: Fat passenger on a VS flight causes women permenant injuiries

I think £13,000 is a fair sum but why was the husbnad not made to sit next to her? Perhaps he’s got experience from the past?

RE: Fat passenger on a VS flight causes women permenant injuiries

hmmm barely enough for a return concorde flight, pretty stingey of them if it is the amount.

RE: Fat passenger on a VS flight causes women permenant injuiries

The Sun newspaper today reported that the woman’s husband had a seat in the row behind his wife. To me the question then arises as to why the airline did not make the husband sit next to his wife?

Another issue is the level of compensation paid for injuries which were as severe as those this woman suffered. Emergency hospital treatment, bedridden for a month, chronic pain and being forced to use a walking stick. In the current climate of litigation and the obscene amounts of compensation paid over the most trivial of incidents then surely £13,000 is a paltry amount.

Also, could Virgin not now sue the obese woman passenger? She had the foresight to book two seats for her outward journey, could it be considered negligence on her part that she booked a single seat for her return? She obviously booked two seats due to her size, did she really think she would lose enough weight to book a single for the return?

Regards,

kev35

RE: Fat passenger on a VS flight causes women permenant injuiries

yes, this was how it was reported on BBC News online

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Virgin Atlantic has paid a woman passenger £13,000 (US$20,289) compensation, after she was squashed by an obese person who sat next to her on a transatlantic flight.

Barbara Hewson, from Swansea, south Wales, suffered injuries including a blood clot in her chest, torn leg muscles and acute sciatica and remains in pain two years on.

The obese passenger had only been able to fit into her seat by raising the arm rest, which meant her body parts weighed down on Mrs Hewson.

The injured woman had to be admitted to hospital in Los Angeles when the flight touched down and was bedridden for a month, according to a report in The Sunday Times newspaper.

Two years later, and after pressure on the airline to take her complaint seriously, Virgin agreed to pay her compensation.

Before taking off, the freelance writer had complained in the first instance to the cabin crew about sitting next to the overweight woman, who had booked two seats on her outward bound flight to London, but not on the return leg.

Attendants told Mrs Hewson the flight was full, with no other seats available.

She told the Sunday newspaper that her experience of the 11-hour flight in economy class had been “horrific”.

Mrs Hewson added that she was now forced to walk with a stick and is still in pain.

It is reported Virgin officials initially offered “a small basket of goods” worth £15 as compensation, but Mrs Hewson took forward her complaint.

And after 18 months of pursuing her claim and undergoing medical examinations by Virgin’s own doctors to prove the extent of her injuries, the airline agreed to a proper settlement.

A statement by Virgin said Mrs Hewson’s injuries arose from “an unprecedented set of extremely unfortunate circumstances”.

“We have apologised to Mrs Hewson and have offered her compensation, which she has accepted, and we are pleased that this has now reached a conclusion.”

In the United States, budget US carrier Southwest Airlines now charge larger passengers for two seats.

Major concern

But the National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance has taken on airlines over discrimination against overweight people.

The level of obesity in the US is now of major concern, but also in the UK, National Audit Office figures show one in five people are clinically obese.

Vale of Glamorgan MP John Smith has fought a campaign against cramped economy class conditions, following a series of deaths from deep vein thrombosis (DVT), which have been linked to long haul flights.

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The Sunday Times article can be read at http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2100-451653,00.html (you need to be registered with the Times to do so. It’s free for UK residents, but is on a subscription basis abroad)