A man is suing El Al Israel Airlines, claiming he suffered physical and mental pain when he became trapped in his business class seat on a flight from Tel Aviv to New York.
Man Sues El Al, Claiming He Was Trapped In Business Class Seat
As flagged by Paddle Your Own Kanoo, Eshagh Wiseman was traveling from TLV to JFK onboard a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner on October 23, 2022 and had purchased a business class seat. Wiseman is a “gentleman of advanced age,” according to the lawsuit, and claims that the flight crew failed to instruct him on how to properly use the seat.
As a result, Wiseman’s “lower extremity” became trapped when the seat was in a reclined position. He called to a flight attendant for help, who “forcibly” pulled him out. The result was “permanent” injury including “great pain, agony and mental anguish.”
Wiseman is suing under The Montreal Convention, which is fairly pro-passenger multilateral treaty and requires airlines to compensate for injuries unless the airline can prove that passenger negligence was the proximate cause.
While business class seats can be complicated, El Al uses the Recaro CL6710 business class on the Dreamliner. While I have not experienced it on El Al, I have on TAP Air Portugal onboard the Airbus A330-900neo and find it one of the easiest seats to operate. It baffles my mind how anyone, young or old, could get “stuck” in the seat…unless the man was crippled or obese or had some other sort of injury that would prevent him from sitting up (even when the seat is reclined).
CONCLUSION
While I will be curious to see how this case plays out, I am quite suspicious of the claim: having flown in the identical seat in question, I find it very implausible that anyone could be become stuck. But will El Al be able to prove negligence on the part of Wiseman? It will be interesting to see.
image: El Al
It would be hilarious if El Al lost this case.
Lots of anything attached to one might make it harder to get up out of the seat. 🙂
Sorry Malik – this was supposed to go below Aaron’s comment.
Are you suggesting he must be meshuggeneh for filing the case?
My guess is this guy has a long history of frivolous lawsuits attached to him.
Lots of anything attached to one might make it harder to get up out of the seat. 🙂
Comment of the week. Brilliant!
Money grab …
Change of posture in elderly people must be done very slowly and cautiously, otherwise pain and injuries may result.