Filed under: Travel News
tv2.hu
An air passenger who was forced off three flights because she was told she was too heavy has died after being unable to get home from holiday for medical treatment.
Vilma Soltesz, 56, from New York, who weighed more than 30 stone (425lbs), suffered from kidney disease and diabetes and was a wheelchair user with only one leg.
She had booked a flight home on October 15 so that she could resume medical treatment - but was forced to disembark because the airline, KLM, said it did not have a seat belt extender for her.
Two other airlines were also unable to accommodate her.
According to the New York Post, Vilma subsequently died nine days later, after suffering kidney failure while still in Hungary, where she owned a holiday home with her husband.
KLM spokeswoman Ellen van Ginkel told the newspaper: "It appeared on the passenger's return that it was not physically possible for her to board the aircraft, despite every effort made by KLM... A seat or belt extender did not offer a solution either."
Vilma's husband, Janos, said his wife was already seated when they were asked to disembark, and they had to wait at the airport for five hours.
They were then told to drive five hours to Prague to board a Delta plane that could accommodate a disabled person, but when they arrived they were told that the airline's plastic wheelchair couldn't hold her weight.
The couple returned to their holiday home and their US-based travel agent booked them on to a Lufthansa flight which, they were told, would be able to accommodate her size.
But after boarding the plane with the help from the local fire department, the crew were unable to move her from her wheelchair to the three seats that had been allocated to her, and the captain ordered the couple off.
According to the New York Post, Janos now plans to sue the airlines. Attorney Holly Ostrov Ronai is considering a multi-million dollar lawsuit, accusing the airlines of violating laws protecting the disabled.
Related articles
Brits oppose plans for extra-wide seats for heavier passengers
British courts to decide on 'fat tax' for overweight fliers