Qatar Airways Sued After Teen Dies from Allergic Reaction on Doha-New York Flight
A family from Dresher, Pennsylvania, is suing Qatar Airways after a teenage relative tragically died mid-way through an ultra-long-haul flight from Doha to New York JFK after a flight attendant served the victim a sandwich that may have been laced with an ingredient he was severely allergic to. The family claims that the medical equipment on the plane was not working properly, and when desperate efforts to save the boy’s life were unsuccessful, his relatives had to endure the rest of the flight with his body laid out the floor behind their seats. The heartbreaking incident occurred on August 21, 2024, when 16-year-old Jason Hu was returning home to the United States with his sister Erica Hu and father, Eric Hu, having spent some time visiting family in China. The return journey saw them initially fly from China to Doha and then get on a connecting Qatar Airways flight to New York JFK. Flight QR-701 departed Doha at around 8 am for the 13-hour flight to New York, but midway through, as the plane was flying high above the Atlantic, things went horribly wrong. Flight attendants were passing through the cabin and handing out sandwiches as a mid-flight snack. Before Jason took the sandwich, he asked the crew member what allergens the snack contained. Jason suffered severe allergies to peanuts, fish, and dairy products, so it was important that he knew the exact allergens in the sandwich before he took a bite. According to a new lawsuit filed in a Pennsylvania district court, the flight attendant advised Jason that the sandwich was safe for him to eat. Within moments of eating the sandwich, however, Jason began to experience breathing difficulties. He started to use a nebulizer in an attempt to catch his breath, but it had no effect. Not long after, he suddenly collapsed. Flight attendants rushed to Jason’s aid, and one crew member is believed to have administered an EpiPen-style shot, which contains life-saving Epinephrine medication – the primary first-line treatment for reversing the effects of a life-threatening anaphylactic reaction. The shot did not, however, provide any relief, and Jason continued to struggle to breathe. The flight attendants then fetched an oxygen cylinder and attached a mask to his face, but his family claims the oxygen tank was not working properly. Within minutes, Jason became lifeless, although it wasn’t until the plane landed at New York JFK that he was officially pronounced dead. The lawsuit claims Jason’s death is the result of the “affirmative misrepresentation and specific assurance by the flight crew member that the food product was safe for Jason to consume, which directly induced Jason to consume the allergen.” The family further claims that Qatar Airways failed to ensure that the medical equipment on board the flight was operational, including the oxygen tank and the EpiPen or generic alternative that was administered to Jason. In addition, the family is also suing MedAir, the Phoenix-based telemedicine vendor that provides numerous international airlines with 24/7 emergency medical advice via airplane satellite phones, saying that MedAire failed to give suitable treatment and diversion advice to the flight crew. The lawsuit is being brought against Qatar Airways and MedAire via Article 17 of the Montreal Convention, a global treaty that makes airlines responsible for death or injury sustained by passengers during the course of an international flight. The specific wording of Article 17 states: “The carrier is liable for damage sustained in case of death or bodily injury of a passenger upon condition only that the accident which caused the death or injury took place on board the aircraft or in the course of any of the operations of embarking or disembarking..” In many cases, airlines are able to limit their liability under Article 17 to 128,821 Special Drawing Rights – a monetary instrument developed by the IMF to represent a basket of currencies. At present, 128,821 SDR is equivalent to around $176,000. Jason’s family is asking the court to award a higher compensation payout because Jason’s death was due to the “negligence or other wrongful act or omission of the carrier or its servants or agent.” Qatar Airways has yet to respond to the complaint. The case has been filed in the District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania under case number: 2:26-cv-04882. Last November, Swetha Neerukonda sued Qatar Airways for $5 million after a flight attendant fed her three-year-old daughter a KitKat bar during an ultra-long-haul flight from Washington Dulles to Doha, despite being informed the child was severely allergic to dairy and nuts. Swetha says her daughter suffered a severe anaphylactic shock after being fed the chocolate bar and had to be administered a life-saving shot of epinephrine. The flight attendant allegedly fed the KitKat to Swetha’s daughter when she went to the bathroom during the flight. The crew member then allegedly mocked Swetha and dismissed her concerns. The lawsuit has not been settled.