Filed under: News, Interviews
It was more than 10 years ago, but when I think hard about my own near-death experience, it feels like it happened yesterday.
While driving on the New Jersey Turnpike to my parents home in Teaneck, an unmarked construction barrier in the center lane caused traffic to go from about 60 mph to around 20.
The car in front of me swerved in to the slow lane, but it was too late for me. I jammed on my brakes, narrowly missing the barrier. I did a 360 degree spin around the barrier, missed a Shop Rite truck but a few feet and came to a stop in the middle lane - facing oncoming traffic.
Talk about saying some prayers that night before going to sleep.
That experience makes me quite sensitive to the story of the woman who is suing American Airlines for giving her a near-death experience of her own when a jet she was traveling on slid off a runway.
But instead of simply thanking God she is still in one piece, Jewel Thomas of Seattle has decided to sue the airlines, claiming she was traumatized by the near crash at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport in 2008.
Thomas says in a lawsuit against the airline that she suffers from severe mental and emotional problems, even though no physical injuries were reported among the passengers or crew. She adds that she is no longer able to fly and sometimes will "freak out" when she hears an airplane.
I won't belittle Thomas' plight but something just doesn't smell right. If everyone involved in a near-death accident on a plane was allowed to sue, we wouldn't have an airlines industry.
I understand how seeing your life flash before your eyes can leave you shaken, but I don't think you can rightfully sue an airline if you "freak out" when you hear a plane, accident or no.
In her negligence lawsuit against the airlines and its crew, Thomas contends the flight crew knew the plane's electrical system was damaged and allowed a battery system to run out of power until critical systems began to fail.
Thomas wasn't alone on that flight, so she wasn't the only one terrified at the prospect of her life ending in a fireball. It's her right to sue the airlines if she really thinks the crew was negligent, but I'm sure they were doing the best they could to save the passengers - and their own lives.
But unless serious negligence is found, the airline can't be held responsible if she can no longer fly or bugs out when she hears a plane. I hate to sound harsh but that reaction is on her.