BONNEY LAKE, Wash. - An American Airlines flight attendant has filed a lawsuit against The Boeing Company, claiming a design defect in an aircraft made her sick.
Terry Williams of Bonney Lake says that she's been unable to return to work since taking a flight in April of 2007.
The lawsuit filed in King County Superior Court is believed to be the first in the United States to claim that Boeing should be filtering and monitoring the system that supplies air to the passengers and crew.
Williams says she could see a cloud of fumes in the first-class compartment of the April 2007 flight. Since then she says she has suffered severe headaches, tremors and nausea among other symptoms.
Williams says headaches strike on an almost daily basis.
Related Content
"It generally starts at the base of my neck and comes around the side," she said.
Pain and breathing problems force her to rest several times a day.
"I just feel like I'm robbing everybody of myself," she said. "My husband of his wife - my kids of their mother."
Her case is similar to several others profiled in a series of reports by the KING 5 Investigators. Some experts believe that fumes are entering into jetliners through the air delivery system both Boeing and Airbus use. It's called a "bleed air" system and it draws air off the jet engine.
Dr. Clem Furlong, a University of Washington scientist who has been researching the issue for several years, believes oil spray from the jet engine and other components is getting into the air system.
Dr. Furlong is trying to develop a blood test that would show if toxins from jet oil are present in the people who get sick.
Boeing does have some legal history on its side. Seven years ago, two dozen Alaska Airlines flight attendants lost in a similar lawsuit.
A Boeing spokesperson says company officials haven't see today's suit, so they can't comment on it except to say the "air in airplane cabins is safe."
To add a comment, please register or login.