PHILADELPHIA – A fellow passenger on board the infamous Southwest Airlines flight in April 2018 during which one passenger was partially sucked out of the plane and later died has settled litigation with the airline and the airplane’s manufacturers.
Alan Meizlik of Scarsdale, N.Y., first filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania on Sept. 21, 2018 versus Southwest Airlines Co. of Dallas, Boeing Company of Chicago, Boeing Commercial Airplanes of Renton, Wash., CFM International, Inc. and General Electric Company of Cincinnati and Safran USA, Inc. of Irving, Texas.
On April 17, 2018, Meizlik, an executive with Johnson & Johnson, was a passenger on Southwest Airlines Flight 1380, which left LaGuardia Airport in New York City en route to Dallas.
“He did not know, and had no way of knowing, that he was placing himself in danger by even getting on that plane. But Southwest Airlines, Inc. knew. It had known for a long time. And it did nothing about it. Just 20 minutes after takeoff, however, Meizlik’s life flashed before his eyes,” according to the lawsuit.
“At approximately 11 a.m., the plane’s left engine exploded. Shrapnel from the exploded engine ripped into the plane’s fuselage, breaking a window. At 30,000 feet, an altitude higher than the summit of Mount Everest, the cabin depressurized.”
Meizlik alleged the rapid depressurization caused his ears to bleed, in addition to other significant physical and psychiatric injuries from which he may never recover. During the flight, the plaintiff says he believed he was going to die and sent a goodbye text message to his children.
“As a direct and proximate cause of the events aboard Flight 1380, plaintiff suffered and continues to suffer, severe personal injuries including but not limited to a cervical spinal injury involving herniations in his C-6 and C-7 discs with spinal cord impingement, closed head injury, traumatic brain injury, neurological injuries, inner ear injury, bleeding from his ears, confusion, memory loss, photophobia, dizziness and headaches, post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, emotional distress and depression,” the suit stated.
Due to these catastrophic events, Flight 1380 was diverted to Philadelphia International Airport where it made an emergency landing. The passenger who had been partially ejected from the plane through its broken window, 43-year-old Jennifer Riordan, was removed from the aircraft alive and in critical condition, but later pronounced dead at an area hospital.
Meizlik’s suit also made reference to an earlier, similar incident in August 2016 with Southwest Airlines Flight 3472, where media reports said “a missing fan blade with reports that the fracture surfaces showed signs of metal fatigue.”
The plaintiff charged the airline with doing nothing to remedy the plane’s structural components, leading to April 2018’s tragic events.
UPDATE
In nearly three years of litigation, the defendants did not attempt to answer the complaint, instead filing 12 separate stipulations with the Court to provide them with additional time to do so.
But after the dozen separate delays, it was reported on July 8 that the case had been settled without so much as a single answer from the defendants. Terms of the settlement were not disclosed.
“Pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41(a)(1)(A)(i), plaintiff dismisses this action with prejudice,” the settlement stipulation read.
Prior to settlement and for counts of negligence, strict liability and breach of express and implied warranties, the plaintiff is seeking damages, jointly and severally, for compensatory damages and punitive damages, together with lawful interest and costs of suit.
The plaintiff was represented by Thomas N. Sweeney of Messa & Associates, in Philadelphia.
The defendants were represented by J. Denny Shupe, Jonathan M. Stern and Stephen J. Shapiro of Schnader Harrison Segal & Lewis, Albert G. Bixler of Eckert Seamans Cherin & Mellott, all in Philadelphia, and Patrick Bradley of Reed Smith, in Princeton, N.J.
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania case 2:18-cv-04084
From the Pennsylvania Record: Reach Courts Reporter Nicholas Malfitano at nick.malfitano@therecordinc.com