Professor sues Boeing for £30,000,000 after he was ‘left brain damaged by toxic fumes on flight’
A man has filed a lawsuit after claiming to have suffered brain damage after being exposed to fumes onboard a Boeing aircraft.
Jonathan Harris is seeking $40million from the US aerospace giant over the incident, in which he says the cabin was filled with the smell of engine oil, leaving him since battling health conditions.
The professor of law said he struggled to breathe and threw up onboard a Delta Airlines Boeing 737 from Atlanta to Los Angeles last year.
His lawsuit details that he was taken to hospital the day after the flight where he was found to have low levels of oxygen and high levels of bicarbonate and carbon monoxide in his blood.
Harris, who teaches at Loyola Law School in LA, says the incident has left him having to take lessons sitting down as he is no longer steady on his feet.
A previously keen runner, Harris claims his poor balance had also caused him to fall and break his ankle.
He adds that the ordeal means he now avoids flying where possible and now doesn’t board a flight without a gas mask.
The Daily Mail reported that Harris continues to get headaches and had been prescribed an inhaler to counter tightness in his chest.
Harris further alleges that cabin crew ignored his requests to evacuate passengers off the plane after landing as the odour spread through the cabin.
According to the CAA, so-called ‘fume events’ can have long term effects on those exposed including headaches, fatigue, weakness, problems with balance and memory issues.
They have also been reported psychological effects such as depression and poor concentration.
Experts estimate that fume events occur onboard aircraft globally every day, however there is currently no obligation for airlines to record such incidents in the US.
Data from NASA identified a total of 362 voluntarily-reported fume events from January 2018 to December 2019, in which almost 400 passengers and staff received medical treatment.
In 2020, a British Airways pilot told the BBC had taken control of a flight minutes before landing after the first officer, or co-pilot, slumped at the controls due to a fume event.
The airline denied the pilot had collapsed but admitted a Mayday call was issued.
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