SEATTLE — A Chehalis woman is suing Delta Air Lines after a coffee spill on board a flight from Paris allegedly left her with first- and second-degree burns.
The suit, filed Thursday in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington, also alleges that flight staff were dismissive of the woman's concerns and the delay in her accessing medical care made her injuries worse.
Delta Air Lines declined to comment.
While the woman was watching a movie aboard a flight to Seattle from Paris in mid-December 2023, a flight attendant set a cup of hot coffee on the woman's slanted food tray, and the coffee slid and spilled on the victims lap, according to the suit filed by Aviation Attorney Mark Lindquist.
"This coffee was excessively hot, way beyond industry standards," said Mark Lindquist, the woman's attorney. "Even the ER doctor was shocked that coffee this hot was served on an airplane."
The victim told a flight attendant about her injuries and requested medical assistance, however Delta's flight attendants were allegedly "dismissive" of the woman's concerns, telling her to change and handing her a bag of ice. When the woman showed the flight attendants the severity of her burns, she was given a pain reliever and a bandage. Attendants declined to make an announcement asking if there was a doctor onboard, according to the suit.
The woman was evaluated by paramedics when the flight landed at SEA Airport, and paramedics noted they were "surprised" by the severity of the burns and said they were the worst they'd ever seen from a cup of coffee.
An ER doctor also expressed shock that the coffee was hot enough to burn the victim so severely, according to the lawsuit. Her burns were "blistering" and diagnosed as first and second-degree on her hip and the side of her abdomen.
"She wants accountability here. She also wants to make sure this doesn't happen to any other airline passengers, and as someone who flies, I want that too," said Lindquist.
The lawsuit alleges that Delta violated the Montreal Convention, which establishes airline liability in cases of passenger injuries, and was negligent in serving "excessively hot coffee" and failing to take adequate measures to address the victim's burns.
The woman was unable to shower or wear her regular clothes for months while her burns healed. She was prescribed opiates to manage the intense pain, which left her groggy and unable to fully function, the suit says. The burns have left permanent scars.