Passenger Sues JetBlue After Breaking Ankle Due to Seatbelt Mishap

A New York state woman is pursing legal action against JetBlue spurring from an incident leading to an ankle injury during a flight in mid 2022. The airline had allegedly refused to provide medical care.

How It Started

On July 23 2022, Maria Mistretta and her husband Salvatore were on a JetBlue flight from John F. Kennedy International Airport to the Bahamas. As Mistretta was moving to rise up from her seat, her right foot got caught in a loosened seatbelt. The entanglement caused her to fall backwards on the floor, causing her foot to suffer a fracture.

Another passenger with a nursing background intervened to help Mistretta get back in her seat. While Mistretta and her husband asked JetBlue attendants for first aid and ice packs, the crewmembers said that everything was already "packed up", as the plane was soon landing in the Bahamas.

The court filing notes that Mistretta and her husband would have to wait to leave the plane until all the other passengers had done so. As this happened, the plane could only provide Mistretta with a "broken" wheelchair that couldn't support her fractured ankle.

Headed Back Home

The Mistrettas' time in the Bahamas was very brief, as JetBlue officials reportedly advised against them going to a hospital in the Bahamas, and instead returning to New York for treatment for Maria's ankle. The filing claims the couple wasn't given a choice and had to go through immigration and customs to board the return flight with the same wheelchair and without JetBlue's help.

On the return flight, JetBlue attendants once again refused to provide aid to Mistretta's injured ankle, claiming that since the injury occurred on a different flight, an incident report couldn't be written, so the injury couldn't be treated.

As the Mistrettas made it back to New York on the same day, Maria was admitted to the emergency room where a doctor allegedly diagnosed her with an ankle fracture, deep vein thrombosis and aggravation of a back injury suffered prior.

The Case Details

The Mistrettas recently filed a lawsuit in Queens, New York. The couple is seeking $170,000 from JetBlue in damages related to the incident, as well as emotional trauma experienced by the attendants' actions.

The lawsuit was filed under the Montreal Convention, which states passengers that have suffered injuries under the watch of airlines during an international flight can claim damages up to $170,000.

The case is currently pending, and JetBlue has yet to speak publicly regarding the lawsuit or incident leading up to it.
 

This seems like a very cruel matter that any airline would have to take very seriously. There were many exceptions JetBlue could have made to prevent matters from snowballing, from treating Maria's ankle from the beginning to assisting her through customs on the return flight.

But what are your thoughts? Was JetBlue in the wrong? Do you think there's another side to this story? Let us know in the comment section down below!