$75,000 American Airlines Lawsuit Underway After Hot Coffee Spilled on Passenger

American Airlines is facing yet another lawsuit involving turbulence. This time, it's involving a passenger being allegedly burned by scalding-hot coffee during a flight that took place last February.

Coffee Drops

Female passenger Gina Mason filed a lawsuit on Thursday in a Michigan circuit court, previously filing the lawsuit in August. The incident reportedly happened on American Airlines flight AA378 from Baltimore, Maryland to Detroit, Michigan on February 11. The flight on the Boeing 737Max lasted around 90 minutes.

Mason was reportedly sitting in seat 29D when the turbulence occurred. At this time, a coffee pot was unattended on a beverage cart in the middle of the aisle and unattended. As the plane shook, the coffee flew off the cart and landed on her lap.

Mason's lawsuit implies that the captain advised everyone onboard to take a seat due to turbulence, and that a female flight attendant left the cart in the aisle to get seated. Although brakes were placed on the cart, the attendant forgot about the pot of coffee.

The pot of coffee allegedly caused first and second-degree burns to her legs, thighs, and genitals. There is no mention of Mason receiving First Aid on the flight. The lawsuit states that Mason is also suffering from anxiety and depression from the burns.

The filing also states that Mason is seeking $75,000 compensation. American Airlines did not have any comments on the lawsuit as of this writing.

Other Airlines In Hot Water

Following this latest lawsuit against American Airlines, other lawsuits have been previously filed involving hot beverages and/or turbulence on flights. Back in June, a woman was seeking $1.5 million against JetBlue for suffering severe burns from hot tea that was being served to the passenger seated in front of her during “ongoing turbulence”.

On August 2023, a woman filed a lawsuit against Southwest Airlines requesting hot tea and while a cup of hot water was given to her, it spilled in her lap and burned her abdomen. Her lawsuit mentions that none of the attendants helped her and she had to be treated at a burn center after the flight was over. 

During a September 2022 United Airlines flight, a man claimed several hot beverages spilled onto his right arm, and while the man had to see a plastic surgeon for scarring, United was only going to offer just a measly $300 in compensation.

These situations with beverages served on flights can all be preventable. While banning hot drinks altogether might be too extreme for passengers who prefer to stay awake, airlines should certainly take measures to keep beverages secured and put the hot drinks away when turbulence is expected. As for the American Airlines flight, leaving a hot pitcher of coffee in the middle of the aisle is certainly not a good look for the airline.