Widower sues airline for €5m over death of obese wife refused seat on three flights

davet82 · 29-01-2013 11:50AM #1

http://www.independent.ie/world-news/americas/widower-sues-airline-for-5m-over-death-of-obese-wife-refused-seat-on-three-flights-3369264.html

A NEW YORK man whose morbidly obese wife died last year after she was denied space on three flights home from Europe has sued the airlines for €5m.

Vilma Soltesz, who at the time was reported to have weighed 193 kg, had an amputated leg and suffered from diabetes and kidney disease.

She was found dead at her holiday home in Hungary in October after several aircraft crews repeatedly failed to accommodate her size despite telling her they could do so, according to a lawsuit filed in federal court in Manhattan.

The lawsuit accused the three airlines of wrongful death and gross negligence.

Is it not her fault she couldn't fit?

Just so i'm getting this straight they were sued because she died or because they couldn't fit her on the plane?

howamidifferent · 29-01-2013 11:52AM

Wouldnt she fit in the hold?

SEPT 23 1989 · 29-01-2013 11:53AM

Could they not have sent her by air freight if they were that stuck?

johnmcdnl · 29-01-2013 11:53AM

Did she offer to pay for the 3 seats she was going to take?

Secondly - how it is the airlines fault anyways?

Any chance to a link to the full story perhaps?

mardybumbum · 29-01-2013 11:54AM

Is there supposedly some link between her being denied a flight and her subsequent death?

Lando Griffin · 29-01-2013 11:55AM

She had an amputated leg FFS; how hungry can one get.

CreepingDeath · 29-01-2013 11:55AM

davet82 wrote: »

Just so i'm getting this straight they were sued because she died or because they couldn't fit her on the plane?

They're going to make a movie out of it... "Cakes on a plane".

davet82 · 29-01-2013 11:55AM

johnmcdnl wrote: »

Did she offer to pay for the 3 seats she was going to take?

Secondly - how it is the airlines fault anyways?

Any chance to a link to the full story perhaps?

sorry forgot link, its there now

mardybumbum · 29-01-2013 11:57AM

johnmcdnl wrote: »

Did she offer to pay for the 3 seats she was going to take?

Secondly - how it is the airlines fault anyways?

Any chance to a link to the full story perhaps?

Here ya go

Cee-Jay-Cee · 29-01-2013 12:00PM

Stupid Americans, they like to blame everyone and everyone for their own failings. I can't see the case going very far to be honest. The couple had a holiday home oin Hungary and were obviously there quite a while, Hungary has medical facilities too and so she wasn't denied medical attention. Stupid fat Americans.

staker · 29-01-2013 12:03PM

If she sat in 3 seats the plane would've been going around in circles all day. Unless she sat in C D and E up front only then she'd have swallowed the whole refreshment trolley and "**** the rest of ye,I'm not going hungry".

seamus · 29-01-2013 12:08PM

"All we wanted was to come back home to get her treatment,"

That's why when you were told go home and seek treatment immediately, you decided to wait two weeks and finish your holiday. Just fnck right off.

mitosis · 29-01-2013 12:08PM

What, no pics?

http://investorplace.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/vilma-soltesz-300x300.jpg

jenniferalan · 29-01-2013 12:18PM

mitosis wrote: »

What, no pics?

http://investorplace.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/vilma-soltesz-300x300.jpg

Im sorry now that i clicked that!!

KungPao · 29-01-2013 12:19PM

Surely they could have tied her to the wing? Although the plane would probably spiral into the ground. Or maybe she should have chartered an Antonov just for herself.

Or perhaps she shouldn't have eaten herself into that condition in the first place.

slarkin123 · 29-01-2013 12:25PM

How did she get there in the first place? I would have thought the airline that brought her over would easily be able to make the same arrangements to bring her back.

SligoLady · 29-01-2013 12:31PM

"The last attempt, on a Lufthansa plane, ended when they were told to disembark as they were delaying passengers too long.

Vilma, exhausted, was found dead at her holiday home two days later.

Her husband wants answers."

I want to know why the husband is demanding answers when his wife was discovered '2 days later' ..Where the hell was he?? :P

bizmark · 29-01-2013 12:35PM

Lest you all have a nice political correctness safe chuckle on the internet at the fat women who died far from home

MaxSteele · 29-01-2013 12:36PM

"Husband wants answers" ... eh because your wife was an unhealthy and morbidly obese mess ?

Stupid americans. No loss.

mardybumbum · 29-01-2013 12:38PM

bizmark wrote: »

Lest you all have a nice political correctness safe chuckle on the internet at the fat women who died far from home

I have a lot of difficulty in understanding this phenomenon myself.

D1stant · 29-01-2013 12:39PM

MaxSteele wrote: »

"Husband wants answers" ... eh because your wife was an unhealthy and morbidly obese mess ?

Stupid americans. No loss.

Such profundity, such insight, such wisdom

oldyouth · 29-01-2013 12:43PM

slarkin123 wrote: »

How did she get there in the first place? I would have thought the airline that brought her over would easily be able to make the same arrangements to bring her back.

She might have had a large salad in the meantime

up for anything · 29-01-2013 12:44PM

Why don't people take the time to read the article properly before commenting? :rolleyes:

johnmcdnl wrote: »

Did she offer to pay for the 3 seats she was going to take?

It was three flights she was refused on. There appears to have been no issue with paying for the two seats she was going to use if the flight out was anything to go by.

SligoLady wrote: »

I want to know why the husband is demanding answers when his wife was discovered '2 days later' ..Where the hell was he?? :P

Read it again, just read it! :rolleyes:

The mockery and contempt displayed here for the woman because she was obese is sad.

inforfun · 29-01-2013 12:46PM

slarkin123 wrote: »

How did she get there in the first place? I would have thought the airline that brought her over would easily be able to make the same arrangements to bring her back.

It is in the link.
They got there with Delta.
Also tried to go back to the States with Delta but Delta didnt have a skylift to load her on board.
The other 2,Lufthansa and KLM told her to get lost after trying to get her on board which didnt really work and caused delays.
And those are the 2 that are being sued.

Gummy Panda · 29-01-2013 12:48PM

This was probably how her diet worked.

193kg is an insane amount. I'm surprised she was allowed fly

29-01-2013 12:49PM

I read elsewhere but can't find it now that she wanted to go back for treatment in the states as she didn't trust the local doctors.

You wonder how a person can let themselves go so far.

seamus · 29-01-2013 12:50PM

Gummy Panda wrote: »

This was probably how her diet worked.

193kg is an insane amount. I'm surprised she was allowed fly

193kg is two 95kg individuals (slightly overweight for a six-foot man). So not that much from a plane's point of view, and she was required to pay for two seats.

Gummy Panda · 29-01-2013 12:53PM

seamus wrote: »

193kg is two 85kg individuals (fairly normal weight for a six-foot man). So not that much from a plane's point of view, and she was required to pay for two seats.

No I meant in regards to herself, pressure changes and the prolonged periods in confined space. If the amputation is due to the obesity, then there is probably circulation issues as well.

squod · 29-01-2013 12:57PM

davet82 wrote: »

http://www.independent.ie/world-news/americas/widower-sues-airline-for-5m-over-death-of-obese-wife-refused-seat-on-three-flights-3369264.html

Just so i'm getting this straight they were sued because she died or because they couldn't fit her on the plane?

Not surprised you're confused OP. That article was obviously written by an idiot someone with no appreciation for journalism.

http://www.businessinsider.com/janos-soltesz-suing-for-wifes-death-2012-11

The Solteszs spent three weeks in their native Hungary before Vilma needed to come back for treatment for diabetes and renal disease.

The U.S. Department of Transportation is investigating Vilma's death, according to the Post.
But Lufthansa is telling a much different story.
"Of course nobody said she was too fat to fly home," spokesman Nils Haupt told Business Insider.
The airline says it actually reserved three seats for Vilma, who had to be brought onboard the plane by a special lift. But once she was on the aircraft, Haupt says, it was impossible to move her from her wheelchair to her plane seats.
"There was not the slightest idea how to move her out of the wheelchair without hurting her," Haupt said.
Crews tried to move Vilma for about 30 minutes before she was taken off the plane, according to Haupt.
In a statement sent to Business Insider, KLM said it was "deeply saddended" by Vilma's death but that when she tried to fly home it appeared "it was not physically possible for her to board the aircraft, despite every effort made by KLM to this end. A seat or belt extender did not offer a solution either."
In a statement emailed to Business Insider, Delta spokesman Russell Cason said the airline was "physically unable to board" Vilma on a flight.
However, both Delta and KLM "did everything possible to assist the family."

stevenmu · 29-01-2013 01:02PM

It looks like they were willing to accomodate her, and in all 3 cases had 2 seats set aside for her. But in all 3 cases she wasn't physically able to get to her seats, and they didn't have the specialist equipment to carry her to them.

Lapin · 29-01-2013 01:05PM

The irony of her dying in Hungary.

Widower sues airline for €5m over death of obese wife refused seat on three flights

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