Asoka Jayaweera, 85, was flying from Los Angeles to Sri Lanka, via Doha, when the flight had to be diverted to the Scottish capital.
The flight had to be diverted to Edinburgh
The family of a Qatar Airways passenger who died in a hospital in Edinburgh after choking on an in-flight meal have launched legal action against the airline.
Asoka Jayaweera, 85, was flying from Los Angeles to Sri Lanka, via Doha, in August 2023, when the flight had to be diverted to the Scottish capital.
According to the lawsuit filed by his son in a California court on Friday, October 3, the meal service began around two and a half hours into the 15-hour flight.
The lawsuit alleges that Jayaweera – a “strict vegetarian” – was told that the airline didn’t have any vegetarian meals left and that he was given a regular meal and told to “eat around” the meat.
As reported by The Independent, Jayaweera is then said to have started choking shortly after. The complaint alleges that Jayaweera and his unnamed companion were told that the plane wasn’t able to divert as it was flying over the Atlantic Ocean/Arctic Circle.
Jayaweera’s son Surya contends, however, that the aircraft was actually over the Midwest at the time and could have easily diverted, their complaint states.
The flight eventually made an emergency landing in Edinburgh, but the pensioner had been unconscious for around three and a half hours. He was taken to hospital in the capital where he died the next day due to aspiration pneumonia, an infection caused by inhaling food or liquid into the lungs, rather than swallowing it.
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Surya is is seeking damages for negligence and wrongful death on board Qatar Airways under the Montreal Convention, which stipulates that airlines are liable for a passenger’s death on an international flight. It sets a statutory payout limit of roughly $175,000, at current exchange rates, for onboard death and injury claims.
Qatar Airways have been contacted by the Record for comment.