Bohrer and Lukeman Files Federal Lawsuit on Behalf of Qatar Airways Commercial Aviation Burn Victim

Aviation accident lawyers Bohrer & Lukeman have filed a personal injury lawsuit against Qatar Airways in a Manhattan federal court on behalf of an international airline passenger who suffered severe burns during the October 12, 2018, Qatar Airways Flight from Doha International Airport in Doha, Qatar (DOH) to Kolkata, India. The burn victim, a New York resident, was seated aboard a Boeing 787 jetliner when the Qatar flight attendant dropped a scalding hot beverage onto her lap and inner thigh area.

The victim screamed in agony as the searing hot liquid scorched her legs and thighs, inflicting severe burns that required immediate emergency medical attention. However, the aircraft continued with its course, depriving her of proper medical treatment until the jumbo jet landed several hours later. As a result, the victim suffered permanent scarring to her inner thigh, has undergone medical treatment and lives with physical and mental anguish that will deprive her of her enjoyment of life.

Bohrer & Lukeman’s complaint and lawsuit, filed under Article 17 of the Montreal Convention, seeks unspecified damages for its client’s past and future medical expenses, lost wages, pain and suffering, mental trauma and loss of enjoyment of life. The Montreal Convention determines the standards and regulations for air carrier liability for passenger injuries which occur during international flights. It states, “the carrier is liable for damage sustained in case of death or bodily injury of a passenger upon condition only that the accident which caused the death or injury took place on board the aircraft or in the course of any of the operations of embarking or disembarking.” In other words, commercial airlines may be responsible if a passenger is injured not only during the flight, but for injuries suffered in the airport terminal, on the tarmac, while climbing portable airstairs or riding on tarmac transfer buses so long as their activity is considered to be a part of the aircraft’s boarding or disembarking process.

This is not the first time that our airline accident lawyers have litigated a burn injury against Qatar Airways. We have extensive experience representing victims burned during the course of international and domestic commercial aviation flights. Abe Bohrer, the firm’s founder, has successfully litigated many such cases, including:

– Jetblue flight, where a scalding beverage slid from an unlevel tray and burned a passenger;

– United Airlines Expressjet flight in which an infant was the victim of a hot beverage burn;

– Aer Lingus flight, where a child received severe burns due to flight attendant negligence;

– Egypt Air flight, where a hot beverage caused severe burns to a young female passenger;

– Lufthansa German Airlines flight, where a passenger suffered trunk and torso burns;

– American Airlines flight, severe burns to young female passenger

When asked about the federal lawsuit filed against Qatar Airways, Abe had this to say: “I am saddened but not surprised to see another serious burn case against Qatar Airways. In previous actions, we discovered what we felt was a pattern of lax service rules pertaining to hot beverages, took issue with the nature, extent and quality of training and methods of hot beverage service, the temperature of the beverages as well as the level of training that cabin crew members had administering first aid treatment in the event of a passenger burn. Indeed, our attorneys concluded that its flight attendants were careless in causing these burns,and then further poorly equipped to recognize and treat the seriousness of the burns after they occurred in flight.”

The aviation accident attorneys at Bohrer & Lukeman will continue to investigate and litigate this Qatar Airways Flight QR540 burn accident on behalf of our client as well as all cases of injury and/or wrongful death related to general aviation crashes, in-flight accidents and commercial airline negligence. The airline and airplane accident lawyers at Bohrer & Lukeman have successfully represented passengers injured during international and domestic flights for over 25 years and have experience and success against nearly all of the world’s major airlines. We handle general aviation crashes and accidents, commercial airline disasters and inflight injuries arising under both US domestic law, and the the Montreal Convention governing the rights of international commercial airline passengers.