# Airlines sued for not accepting an obese passenger who later died **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 27, 2012, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airlines-sued-for-not-accepting-an-obese-passenger-who-later-died/642274 "2012-11-27T16:29:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![JoseB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/joseb/32/1530_2.png) [@JoseB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoseB)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2012, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airlines-sued-for-not-accepting-an-obese-passenger-who-later-died/642274/1 "2012-11-27T16:29:37Z")
The whole story makes me cringe a bit. > **[Delta and KLM sued over 'too fat to fly' Vilma Soltesz](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-20510267)** > > The husband of a US woman who was too big to be flown home from Europe - where she later died - is to sue the airlines involved for damages. Long story short: A US-woman who was in Hungary (apparently her husband was Hungarian and she had gone there to their holiday home), weighing close to 200 kg, sick with diabetes and kidney trouble, was supposed to go back to New York to continue her treatment. KLM and Delta Airlines were apparently either unable or unwilling to get her in their planes. The woman refused to put herself in the hands of Hungarian doctors because apparently she didn’t trust them. In the end, she died. Delta and KLM are being sued by the husband. On the one hand, I cannot understand how come the airlines were able to take her from the US to Europe, but then she didn’t fit in the airplane when trying to go back (I cannot imagine her gaining so much weight in so short time that she became unable to fit, but then I am not a doctor and I don’t know if, with her diseases, that is possible – perhaps extreme water retention?). On the other hand, I am flabbergasted that, in such a dire situation, she didn’t allow Hungarian doctors to treat her. It is not the US, but it doesn’t mean that they are incompetent. Of course, here we are dealing with psychological issues I guess, and I imagine that the prospect of having to be dealt with by the health system of a place where you (likely) don’t speak the language well may be a daunting thing. All in all, a sad, sad story. I think that this death was perfectly preventable. ---
**Author:** ![babygoat666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/2acd7d/32.png) [@babygoat666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/babygoat666)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2012, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airlines-sued-for-not-accepting-an-obese-passenger-who-later-died/642274/2 "2012-11-27T16:36:11Z")
It’s sad that she died, but airplane seats barely accommodate normal-sized people. Where were they supposed to put her? ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2012, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airlines-sued-for-not-accepting-an-obese-passenger-who-later-died/642274/3 "2012-11-27T16:36:33Z")
_But, according to Mr Ronai, she was unable to be belted into that plane and “the captain came out of the cockpit and made her get off”_ and _She was then told to drive to Prague in the Czech Republic where she would be given seats on a larger Delta Airlines flight._ It sounds like she just didn’t fit the smaller aircraft. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2012, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airlines-sued-for-not-accepting-an-obese-passenger-who-later-died/642274/4 "2012-11-27T16:37:41Z")
I don’t have time to read the article now. (Actually, I don’t have time to post, but…) While in Hungary, her condition may have deteriorated to the point where the airlines believed it was medically unsound to transport her. Usually an airline will transport an obese person if the person buys an extra seat. However, they can refuse transport if they think that the person’s medical condition is such that he or she may not survive the flight. I agree that she should have sought medical attention in Hungary. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2012, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airlines-sued-for-not-accepting-an-obese-passenger-who-later-died/642274/5 "2012-11-27T16:37:48Z")
It’s unfortunate and pretty disgusting that the airlines would not honor her tickets (she had even bought two seats), but at the end of the day she is responsible for her own well-being and should have accepted whatever medical treatment was available to her. Pehaps Hungarian doctors are not up to the American standard (or maybe they are, I don’t know), but I’m certain they could have kept her alive. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2012, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airlines-sued-for-not-accepting-an-obese-passenger-who-later-died/642274/6 "2012-11-27T16:43:39Z")
> [@](#): > > She suffered from kidney disease and diabetes and reportedly “did not trust” Hungarian doctors. > [@](#): > > Delta Airlines said every effort was made to accommodate her but it had been “physically unable” to get her aboard. > [@](#): > > “Our records indicate Delta staff in Prague made repeated attempts for nearly an hour to board the customer, but they were unable to get her onboard the aircraft,” Delta claimed Whose fault is this? ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2012, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airlines-sued-for-not-accepting-an-obese-passenger-who-later-died/642274/7 "2012-11-27T16:47:29Z")
So transcontinental airlines have the same duty of responsibility as my municpal ambulance service? Don’t think so. ---
**Author:** ![polar\_bear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ec9cab/32.png) [@polar\_bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/polar_bear)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2012, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airlines-sued-for-not-accepting-an-obese-passenger-who-later-died/642274/8 "2012-11-27T16:53:34Z")
I read (in Ducth) that she ‘retained water’, which made her more obese than when she flew there. The article also said she barely fitted into the airplane door, but could not fit in the narrower ‘hallways’ going to the left and right. They literally weren’t able to get her to a seat. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2012, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airlines-sued-for-not-accepting-an-obese-passenger-who-later-died/642274/9 "2012-11-27T17:01:34Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > It’s unfortunate and pretty disgusting that the airlines would not honor her tickets (she had even bought two seats), It sounds like they tried their best to honor her tickets. But if the captain felt that she created a safety risk to herself or other passengers, it was his right to ask her to leave. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2012, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airlines-sued-for-not-accepting-an-obese-passenger-who-later-died/642274/10 "2012-11-27T17:07:27Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > It sounds like they tried their best to honor her tickets. But if the captain felt that she created a safety risk to herself or other passengers, it was his right to ask her to leave. I’d say his duty. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2012, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airlines-sued-for-not-accepting-an-obese-passenger-who-later-died/642274/11 "2012-11-27T17:11:12Z")
Her own fault. The bigger problem is that “the system” has come to point where you can get your assed sued off just for trying to help someone. Lets say they jury rigged some place for her to sit, or stay. Then she gets hurts in turbulence because its not a proper seat. Sued. She gets hurt when they try really hard to get her on the plane (push harder Bob!). Sued. Her condition worsens in flight and she dies. Sued. Someone else on the plane gets hurt because of her. Sued. Don’t blame the airlines. Blame her mostly with a good bit of blame for the system as well. ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2012, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airlines-sued-for-not-accepting-an-obese-passenger-who-later-died/642274/12 "2012-11-27T17:11:24Z")
I see another problem. What if she had finally been boarded, and there had been an emergency, much like the airliner that landed in the Hudson River? Would they have been able to get her out? ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2012, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airlines-sued-for-not-accepting-an-obese-passenger-who-later-died/642274/13 "2012-11-27T17:16:51Z")
The airliner did the right thing, sadly, and I don’t know how bad Hungarian medicine is, but presumably it would have at least been able to keep her alive. ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2012, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airlines-sued-for-not-accepting-an-obese-passenger-who-later-died/642274/14 "2012-11-27T17:27:39Z")
At first I thought “200kg, that’s not that big is it?” but it turns out that equals about **440lbs**. Whoa. Sad story but I don’t see how the airline did anything wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Blaster\_Master](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/cab0a1/32.png) [@Blaster\_Master](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blaster_Master)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2012, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airlines-sued-for-not-accepting-an-obese-passenger-who-later-died/642274/15 "2012-11-27T17:28:57Z")
It’s possible that the plane she took to Hungary was different than the one she was booked on to fly back, and so it’s quite possible that she would fit in one and not the other. Perhaps there should be some way of indicating when booking tickets that one is obese and that is why one is buying mulitple tickets so she perhaps could have known she may not fit in the aircraft. However, in the end, the airline did all they could. They tried to fasten her in and she didn’t fit, so they offered her an alternative. Ultimately, this is her own fault. Even putting aside her weight issue, she had a medical issue that she should have taken major precautions to handle before considering any trip, muchless a trip halfway around the world, and she didn’t. What if she had had an emergency related to her condition, would she have immediately booked a flight home? What if her flight was delayed or cancelled or some other emergency occurred that made it so she couldn’t make it home (natural disaster, sudden death in the family there, etc.)? Why was she so unwilling to trust the Hungarian doctors? I don’t know much about diabetes, but it isn’t exactly uncommon, so I’d think it’s likely that her treatment was fairly routine and, thus, ought to be the sort of thing that one ought to feel a bit safer trusting to other doctors. Seriously, that’s about about the most short-sighted planning I’ve heard of in a long time. So, even if the airline carries some responsibility for not being able to reasonably fulfill her ticket, and I don’t really think they are, it’s not their fault that she did a really crappy job of planning for her own treatment knowing fullwell that not getting it would endanger her life. The husband shouldn’t be blaming them, and should have taken his own initiative to help her plan for her treatment, plan contingencies, convince her to use the local doctors, or figure out how to get her on another flight quickly and haggle about the ticket later. ---
**Author:** ![solosam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@solosam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solosam)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2012, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airlines-sued-for-not-accepting-an-obese-passenger-who-later-died/642274/16 "2012-11-27T17:29:37Z")
I agree. It sounds like they made reasonable attempts to accomodate her. If she was suffering from an emergency medical condition, it is unreasonable to expect any random plane to transport her. There are dedicated medical aircraft that are designed for that purpose. I further do not understand why she would not seek local medical treatment, especially if the alternative is death. Sometimes bad things happen and it’s no one’s fault. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2012, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airlines-sued-for-not-accepting-an-obese-passenger-who-later-died/642274/17 "2012-11-27T17:49:42Z")
Well, they could refund her ticket. Or give her some not so frequent flyer miles. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2012, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airlines-sued-for-not-accepting-an-obese-passenger-who-later-died/642274/18 "2012-11-27T17:54:44Z")
> [@solosam](#): > > If she was suffering from an emergency medical condition, it is unreasonable to expect any random plane to transport her. There are dedicated medical aircraft that are designed for that purpose. I further do not understand why she would not seek local medical treatment, especially if the alternative is death. If she was suffering from an _emergency_ medical condition, she shouldn’t have been flying anywhere except to the nearest hospital. If her condition was non-emergency-but-too-poor-for-a-commercial-flight, then yes, there are services available, for a price. Given her health, she should not have gone far from home without coverage from [these guys.](http://medjetassist.com/) I have coverage from them in case I am injured far from home on a motorcycle trip; I can be stabilized in the nearest ER, and then transported by these guys to a hospital close to my home. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2012, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airlines-sued-for-not-accepting-an-obese-passenger-who-later-died/642274/19 "2012-11-27T17:57:30Z")
She did have acccess to local medical services and refused to use them, **Machine Elf**. Having any kind of coverage from those guys or any other similar program wouldn’t have helped. ---
**Author:** ![leahcim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b4bc9f/32.png) [@leahcim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leahcim)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2012, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airlines-sued-for-not-accepting-an-obese-passenger-who-later-died/642274/20 "2012-11-27T18:03:31Z")
> [@billfish678](#): > > Lets say they jury rigged some place for her to sit, or stay. Then she gets hurts in turbulence because its not a proper seat. Sued. She gets hurt when they try really hard to get her on the plane (push harder Bob!). Sued. Her condition worsens in flight and she dies. Sued. Someone else on the plane gets hurt because of her. Sued. To be fair, people treat the term “sued for eleventy-billion dollars” as if it means “got eleventy-billion dollars” instead of “filed some paperwork asking for eleventy-billion dollars”. It makes for great headlines, while the later “got laughed out of court” or “settled for $10 and a bag of M&Ms” does not. Not that there aren’t frivolous lawsuits that get disturbingly far, but they way the process works, and the way the media works, make society seem a lot more litigious than it is. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airlines-sued-for-not-accepting-an-obese-passenger-who-later-died/642274.md?page=2)