It’s one thing if American Airlines loses your baggage, but what about your wife’s body? What do you do then? One Brooklyn man was faced with this grim dilemma when he arranged to have his wife’s body flown to their home in Ecuador after she passed away from pelvic cancer. American Airlines lost the body, and it went unrefrigerated for 4 days, according to the New York Post.
According to the lawsuit, filed last week, the body of 57-year-old Teresa Olaya was so badly decomposed when it finally arrived in Guayaquil, Ecuador, that her grieving husband, Miguel, had to forgo a traditional open-casket funeral.
“During those days, a thousand things went through my mind,” Olaya, 60, told The Post. “Where is she? Is she dumped somewhere like an animal? And I had no answers for my daughter. She would ask me, ‘Where is my mami?’ “
It gets even more grim. After being given the runaround by AA for several days, the casket finally arrived at it’s destination. Miguel was relieved… until he opened the casket…
“When I opened the casket, it was a terrible shock,” said Olaya. “I still can’t get it out of my mind”
“They treated the body like a piece of baggage,” said lawyer Christopher Robles, who said his client was seeking an unspecified seven-figure sum. “They didn’t keep it refrigerated.”
AA said it couldn’t comment because of the pending lawsuit.
AIRLINE ‘LOSES’ CORPSE [NYP] (Thanks, Trish!)
(Photo: Charliux )
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I think that AA should be put on America’s worst company at the moment. Almost everyone I know who flys them regularly has been screwed. Heck, I’ve only flew them twice and they lost my baggage in NY. There was no sorry, compensation, and they were late when they came to deliver the bag at 4 pm the next day. Bag tossed to the curb and sign here.
This is awful! I almost cried when I read the story…my mother is dying of cancer and I don’t know how I could possibly keep my sanity if something like this were to happen. In a situation like this, an apology doesn’t cut it. This man needs to be heavily compensated for the emotional anguish he and his daughter suffered during these four days. They already were grieving over the loss of someone they loved…adding this on top of it must have been beyond heartbreaking.
From personal experience, this seems to be a habit with AA. They do deliver to your house or location once it is not at the airport with the flight. On my flight to Costa Rica Feb. 2008, they lost my bag, a second bag from another member in my party and 2 other bags that I know of from another couple. My was delivered to my room late night, the couple received theirs at their second destination 3 days later, the other member of my party never received their bag. After filing an immediate claim, postponing plans, going to airport for 2 days, having to buy clothes, returning and filing detailed claim after form was mailed to me, and waiting 4 months without a response, was asked to fax it in again, 2 months later a notice was received that complaint was not filed in time and they were not responsible.
If they can loose 4 bags in one flight, 1 permanently and they can loose a casket, how we trust them to fly anything and not loose it. If the baggage handlers are not responsible for luggage and the company is not responsible for their policies and the customers’ losses, how can we think that they are responsible enough to upkeept their planes and follow FAA standards. I believe the way they handle their baggage is a picture of how the company is run overall.
If like United Breaks Guitars, American looses Baggage and American looses Corpse,how difficult is it to loose a bolt or a screw that compromises the integrity of the planes. Careless once, Careless twice, Careless thrice, Can we afford to keep taking chances with American Airlines? I am refusing to gamble with my life and my belongings anymore.
No American, No United, Not Alive, and definitely not DEAD!
Hope this person gets what they need for their family and their pain.