The good news? They refunded his $2.50 headphones deposit.

I'm surprised none of the passengers noticed. It's surprising to see the little things large groups of people can realize sometimes.

Well, last time somebody died on a plane and they stuck her in first class, everyone got all upset about that too. You can't have it both ways people...either you leave your dead airline passengers in the bathroom, or you stick 'em in first class.

I'd vote negligiance if "Find Dead Passengers" is on the landing checklist

Usually there's an "occupied" light that gets turned on when the door is locked. Maybe no one noticed?

This is absurd. I assume they will settle but i hope they dont just so we can witness the shortest trial in the history of american litigation. Under no circumstances is an airline negligent for failing to search bathrooms for remaining passengers, dead or otherwise.

He could have had a heart attack in the fucking aisle and they could have watched him die and there is no liability, much less a duty to search a lavatory. I hope this women joins her husband soon, as a society we will be better off.

what's the actual damages here? is there a basis for a suit?

@ironchef:

Maybe the wife is mad because she and her hubby didn't get upgraded to first class after he died?

Why do people insist saying bathrooms for those tiny toilets on airplanes. Have you every heard of anyone trying to take a bath in one of those things? Why has the word toilet become such a dirty word that no one will use it in the USA. If you can't bring yourself to say toilet, at least say lavatory.

If the facts as stated in the article are true, then the flight attendants on this particular AA flight seriously dropped the ball. Part of landing procedures on any flight are to lock the bathroom doors (they can do this from the outside by flipping up the little "occupied" sign that lights up on the door).

If they'd done that on this flight, they would have seen someone was in there, knocked for a response, and getting none (since he was dead), would unlock the door from the outside to determine if there was a problem in there.

I don't know why the wife is suing though-- he's dead regardless and it's not like she can make the claim that he died because of their neglect. Just that his body was unclaimed for a couple of hours.

would it be appropriate to assume that she wasn't on the same flight? with her (now dead ex-) husband?

i don't know about Ms. Watts, but if my spouse never returned after going to the bathroom 20 minutes after leaving her seat, i'd be a bit worried... even more so if she didn't show up before we were scheduled to land

2 hours is nothing. During a holiday weekend a dead body sat in an SUV in the Irvine PD parking lot from for four days. It took a civi to notice the blood next to the driver's side door (the guy had put a bullet in his head).

As far as planes, I've been on the pot immediately before landings and each time they knocked to let me know to hurry up. I'm surprised they didn't say anything. Maybe they thought the door somehow jiggled into the locked position? Anyway, I don't see what they're *responsible* for. The guy died. . . .

This is one of the dumbest lawsuits I have heard of... his wife should be thankful that the guy at least got to where he was going....... you know what they say....better late then never.

Am I the only one who noticed the "Sky Chefs" truck in the pic at the top of the page?

[waits for the discussion to devolve into one about cannibalism]

Maybe Ralph Fiennes was on the flight and they figured HE was the one in the can?

I do agree with the others that this is a ridiculous lawsuit, but I wonder how full the plane was. If I was sitting next to a guy, and he got up and didn't come back for 2 hours, I'd be a little concerned myself...and I'm not the guy's wife. You can only assume the wife wasn't on the plane. Regardless, this is plain ol' let's get some money from someone while we can. Gotta love the US.

I think this is a valid lawsuit. If they are going to screen "Ms. Congeniality II :Armed and Fabulous" you have to expect casualties.

He was dead...it's not like he could of suffered from being stuck in the small bathroom for longer then his flight. Hell, I bet the least of his worries was being stuck on the plane too long.

Regardless of the particular body-finding circumstances in this case, what a crappy thought to be going through your mind: "I'm dying in an airplane lavatory."

When you got to go, you GOT to go!

Maybe he died in an unlocked bathroom and then the flight attendents locked it for landing?

either way, i wonder if he had the fish?

"Hey, how about a courtesy flush in there. God, it smells like someone died or something."

It was probably a big plane with multiple attendants. My guess is that an attendant checked, saw it locked, and assumed another attendant did it.

Not really worth a lawsuit or even a firing though.

Doesn't a lawsuit need to be based on some wrong, either actual or imagined? The poor guy died in flight, he wasn't killed, and there was a slight delay because we didn't inform anyone that he was dead. I can't imagine what the basis is.

The lawyer seems to be throwing it all out there to see what sticks.

@faust1200: Seriously...I thought they were supposed to keep "bombs" off the plane!

maybe she is trying to make a connection between the airline food he ate and his death...? Or maybe shes just a greedy bitch.

@dwayne_dibbly: Those are hardly your only two choices! For example, if they were over water, the dearly departed could be given a very dignified burial at sea.

I'd like to know how much she would sue for if the corpse had been in there for 30 min instead of 2 hours. Or why has it taken her 2 years to bring action for emotional distress? The guy died of natural causes, it happens every second; and guess what, some people die alone in their own locked bathrooms at home. puhlease...

Maybe she figures that if they found him immediately, it wouldn't have been too late to do CPR? I could sympathize with that, although I don't think it merits a lawsuit.

If someone sitting near me went to the lav and never returned, I'd just assume they were having digestive issues.

@facted: "If I was sitting next to a guy, and he got up and didn't come back for 2 hours, I'd be a little concerned myself."

I wouldn't. People change seats mid-flight all the time. After about 30 minutes I'd of lifted his armrest and stretched out.

Seriously, the guy died in the lavatory. Even if there had been a 10-minute window in which he could have been revived with CPR, last I knew you were allowed to go to the bathroom without supervision.

Does this mean now that airline personnel will be required to knock on every lavatory door at precise 5 minute intervals and say "Hey, are you okay in there? You're not dead or anything? If you're dead, please knock twice."

If there's negligence here, maybe it's taking an airline flight knowing you have a heart condition? Plane or no plane, sometimes people die, and there's nothing anyone can do about it.

The airline should have checked before landing, and again after. Something's wrong when a dead body sits in the bathroom and nobody notices for two hours. After all, wouldn't they check to make sure nobody was asleep or ill? I understand why the wife is suing. It may not do her deceased husband much good, but she likely viewed the neglect of the body as disrespect. Of all places for a loved one to lie dead...