A newly minted occupational therapist can no longer see straight after a metal water bottle fell on her head as she flew home to the U.S. from a European vacation, according to a federal lawsuit reviewed by The Independent.
In her complaint, Kentucky resident Andrea Stendel says she now suffers from “chronic visual sequelae, specifically exophoria and convergence misalignment.”
Exophoria is a visual condition that causes one eye to drift outward and prevents both from working in concert. Convergence misalignment is a disorder in which your eyes cannot point inward together when looking at objects up close. Both can result in blurry vision or seeing double.
Stendel was “sleeping peacefully” in an aisle seat aboard British Airways flight BA903 when another passenger opened an overhead compartment directly above her and a “heavy, full metal water container” fell from the bin, striking the 53-year-old on the top of the head, the complaint states.
The falling bottle also lacerated Stendel’s scalp, reactivated latent post-traumatic stress disorder from previous trauma, and gave her a concussion that resulted in “severe neurocognitive functional deficits,” according to the complaint, which says Stendel subsequently tested in the bottom third percentile for visual memory – that is, 97 percent of people scored better than she did.
“At the time of the incident, [Stendel] was a recent Occupational Therapy graduate preparing for her national board licensing examination,” the complaint says. “The severe cognitive impairment directly incapacitated [Stendel], forcing a 12-week delay in taking her professional licensing exam and resulting in $20,160.00 in unrefuted lost earning capacity from delayed entry into a documented position at the University of Kentucky Health System.”
Stendel’s injuries “occurred through zero fault or negligence” of her own, according to the complaint. Her “visual misalignment constitutes an ongoing, physical bodily injury directly caused by the trauma of the accident,” according to the complaint, which contends Stendel will require ongoing visual rehabilitation therapy or “lifelong specialized neuro-prism prescription corrective lenses” to cope with the unexpected impediment.
In an email, a British Airways spokesperson told The Independent, “As this matter is the subject of ongoing legal proceedings, it would be inappropriate for us to comment.”
On August 28, 2024, Stendel boarded the flight from Frankfurt, Germany, to London, where she would be catching a connection home to Lexington, Kentucky, according to her complaint, which was filed August 25 in Lexington federal court.
It says Stendel was originally assigned seat 13B, but prior to takeoff, another passenger offered her seat their aisle seat, 13C, where she sat for the duration.
After the plane took off, Stendel went to sleep, her complaint states.
“Without warning, an unidentified fellow passenger opened an overhead storage compartment directly above [Stendel],” the complaint goes on. “A heavy, full metal water container fell from the compartment and struck [Stendel] directly on top of her head.”
The complaint alleges the overhead bin “possessed a critical… defect in that it lacked safety retention netting, containment screens, or side mesh barriers to prevent heavy, loose items from falling when opened.”
Following the blow to Stendel’s head, the cabin crew provided her with a trash bag filled with ice, which the complaint says “rapidly melted and leaked onto [Stendel] while she was in acute distress.”
The flight attendants “explicitly informed [Stendel] that they would return to collect her details and generate an official onboard incident report,” the complaint continues. Yet, it alleges, no one ever came back for Stendel’s info, no one ever took a statement from the other passenger, and no one ever generated an incident report, “leaving the identity of the passenger who opened the overhead bin unrecorded.”
Stendel’s complaint accuses British Airways of negligence for operating an aircraft with “defective” storage bins, failing to secure the items inside the bin in question, failing to provide proper medical attention post-impact, and for not following “carrier incident protocols.”
Last year, a 36-year-old woman sued United Airlines after a piece of the ceiling on her flight allegedly detached, slamming into the passenger’s head, knocking her out cold, and leaving her with a concussion.
Antranique Wash lost consciousness after getting hit with the panel, and “still struggles with vision impairment and pain, even a year-and-a-half later,” her attorney told The Independent at the time.
Also last year, a JetBlue passenger sued the carrier over a “life-altering” concussion she said she received during a hard landing at an airport in South Carolina, rendering her unable to work in the aftermath.
Stendel’s complaint says British Airways is “strictly liable for damages” she sustained, including, among other things, “physical bodily injuries, acute physical pain, severe mental anguish, [and] loss of earning capacity.”
She is now demanding compensatory damages for all past and future medical, neurocognitive, and optical/ophthalmologic expenses; lost wages and permanent impairment of earning capacity; and past and future physical pain, suffering, mental anguish and emotional distress; plus pre-judgment and post-judgment interest and attorneys’ fees.
