American Airlines Sued Over Lightning Strike Death
by Daniel McCarthyAmerican Airlines and the Columbia Metropolitan Airport are being sued by the family of a passenger who died after beinig struck by a lightning bolt while deplaning during a storm.
On June 27, U.S. Airways Flight 5137 made an emergency landing at Columbia Metropolitan Airport because of weather. The plane and its passengers were held on the runway for 45 minutes before deplaning to the airport terminal.
As the passengers exited, 52-year old Sonya Dockett was struck by a lightning bolt on the tarmac, in front of her family, and later died.
The lawsuit claims that neither American nor the airport took proper precautions to protect its passengers.
