United and Colgan being sued again
 

Passenger sues over turbulent flight 10/11/2011 10:52 AM
A passenger is suing Continental Airlines and three other airlines over mental trauma she said she experienced during a turbulent flight.

Lubbock resident Colleen O'Neal flew from College Station to Houston on Oct. 29, 2009 on a day when tornados and thunderstorms were reported in the region, the lawsuit Tuesday filed in Harris County district court said.

Within five to 10 minutes of takeoff for this flight scheduled for 20 minutes, it hit turbulence. The flight took more than two hours "and fell repeatedly, and felt as if it had lost power and was falling out of the sky," the lawsuit filed Tuesday stated.

Pilots aborted an attempted emergency landing in Victoria, the lawsuit alleges.

O'Neal believed she was going to die and has experienced post traumatic stress disorder and fears flying, the lawsuit stated. A Texas Department of Public Safety employee, she had hoped to work for FEMA in a job that would require air travel. She alleges that since she no longer travels by air, she has lost out on economic benefits.

O'Neal purchased the ticket from Continental. She is also suing Chicago-based United Airlines, which merged with Continental last year. Colgan Air, which is owned by Memphis-based Pinnacle Airlines, was operating the aircraft. She is suing all four of those airlines for physical and mental anguish, medical bills and the cost of the suit.

Officials from Continental and Pinnacle could not be reached immediately for comment.

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http://mobile.chron.com/chron/db_271452/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=HlJGGu7A

Why not? People sue for everything else in this universe...why not add turbulence to the list.

She wont have to prove the pilots were careless and reckless in the operation of that flight. She just has to be a big enough nuisance to United to get a payout.


You would really hope the judge would throw this out as frivolous but past precedent in other ridiculous lawsuits will likely prevail and take this one all the way.

Can I sue too? I had to endure that flight multiple times a day on a weekly basis.

I am sorry that she is from Lubbock . . . I thought most folks here had better sense.

Sue mother nature? I guess, anyway you can get a quick dollar.

God help us if the f.o. commutes from the west coast, has less than atp mins, and had a bad case of heart burn due to the high quality airport food. One way or the other it will be pilot error, what a glorious legal system we have. I hope the pilots turn around and sue this wack job when they're put on the bench without pay pending investigation.

Doesn't Texas have loser pays now? The party that loses the lawsuit has to pay the winners legal fees.

Hey, at least the media didn't twist it to reference 3407!

i would say it is unbelievable.....but the fact she did it, just proves the existence of idiots out there.

Exactly. I bet she ends up making more than most airline pilots (or even ALPA secretaries) make in years.

Wait, she said she wanted to work for FEMA. Poor thing, she can't possibly know any better. Bless her heart.