The husband of a Bronx woman who died abroad after she was allegedly
barred from flying back to the U.S. for being too fat has settled his $6
million lawsuit against the airlines, the Daily News has learned.
Janos Soltesz, 57, quietly settled his wrongful death suit against
Delta, KLM Royal Dutch and Lufthansa airlines in late August, court documents
show.
The suit accused the airlines of having sent his 407-pound wife Vilma
"on a debilitating 'wild goose chase' from airline to airline, airport to
home, and country to country" that caused her to lose her life in Oct.
2012.
In addition to morbid obesity, Vilma, 56, had a partially amputated leg
that left her wheelchair bound, court papers say.
The suit says the couple flew to their native Hungary in Sept. 2012
without issue — they bought Vilma two tickets for each leg of the flight — but
were unceremoniously bounced between three separate airlines in two different
countries when they tried to get Vilma home to see her doctor in the States.
Vilma began feeling sick on Oct. 2, but a doctor in Hungary cleared her
to fly home as scheduled on Oct. 15.
Her own doctor in New York told her she should come in to his office as
soon as she got back so he could "adjust her medication or prescribe new
medication," the suit says.
She never made it.
On Oct. 15, the couple went to Budapest Ferihegy International Airport
to catch their flight home. But once they got on the KLM plane, "it was
discovered that the backs of two seats in their row were broken," so she
couldn't maneuver from her wheelchair into the seats, the suit says.
"When informed of the problem, the KLM employees did not offer to
change their seats," and told them they had to get off the flight.
They were kept waiting in the airport for five hours, and then told
they could fly Delta the next day out of Prague, which was nearly a five-hour
drive away, the suit says. "KLM employees assured Janos and Vilma that
Delta has been made aware of Vilma's medical condition and her weight, and that
there would be no further issues accommodating her for their return flight
home," the suit says.
They drove to the airport and arrived seven hours early to make sure
there were no problems, the suit says. But when they tried to get on, "it
became apparent that Delta did not have an adequate or proper wheelchair to
transport Vilma to her seat." They were "forced to disembark"
and told "there was nothing more Delta could do for them," the suit
says.
They then returned to their vacation home in Preszem, Hungary, and
their travel agent lined up a Lufthansa flight for them on Oct. 22. The agent
"notified Lufthansa of Vilma's medical condition and weight so that
necessary and proper accommodations could be made," the suit says.
She again got her boarding pass, and "several Lufthansa medics and
local EMS/Firefighters helped to get Vilma onto the aircraft and into the row
of her assigned seats. However, with the boarding of Vilma onto flight LH1335
almost complete, the captain came out of the cockpit andtold Janos and Vilma
that they would have to disembark immediately. He stated that 'other passengers
need to catch a connecting flight and cannot be delayed further,'" the suit
says.
It took a half hour to get Vilma off the plane, the suit says, and she
began feeling sicker on their way back to Preszem. Their travel agent told them
"she would somehow find a way for them to get home to New York soon,"
it says.On October 24, "Janos found Vilma dead in her bed," the suit
says. It was nine days after she'd been scheduled to see her doctor in The
Bronx.
The court action charged the airlines with causing her death, saying
they'd shown "a willful, wanton and reckless disregard" for Vilma's
safety by having "intentionally refused to make the proper accommodations
for her."
The terms of the deal were not disclosed. Soltesz's lawyer and reps for
Delta and Lufthansa declined comment. KLM did not respond to requests for
comment.
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