American Airlines has been ordered to pay more than $11 million to a passenger who had a stroke on board a flight.
After a six-day trial, the jury reached a verdict last week in the two-year legal case in a California US District Court.
Jesus Plasencia was traveling with his wife, Ana Maria Marcela Tavantzis, in November 2021 on board American Flight 68 from Miami to Madrid.
Court documents say that while the plane was still at the gate, Plasencia briefly lost the ability to speak and was suddenly unable to pick up his phone.
His wife, worried that he was showing symptoms of a stroke, then alerted a flight attendant and the pilot.
But instead of following American Airlines’ established protocols, such as consulting its medical hotline or requesting help from a medical professional on board, the pilot “dismissed Tavantzis’s concerns, joked with Plasencia, and cleared him for take-off,” per the complaint.
While flying over the Atlantic Ocean, Plasencia then suffered a stroke.
Court documents say that he was taken to the hospital after landing in Spain, remaining in critical condition for more than three weeks before returning to the US via air ambulance.
The retired chef can no longer speak or write and requires daily care, the case said. Tavantzis has become her husband’s primary caregiver.
The couple argued that had the American Airlines crew followed correct protocols, Plasencia would have been taken to a Miami hospital, where timely treatment would have improved the outcome.
Jurors found American Airlines negligent under the Montreal Convention, which governs airline liability on international flights, because its crew failed to follow medical protocols.
They awarded $13.28 million in damages but reduced the amount by 27.5% after assigning partial responsibility to the plaintiffs, leaving $9.6 million. With interest, the final judgment totaled $11.06 million.
American Airlines did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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