Passenger sues AirAsia over damage to foot

Passenger sues AirAsia over damage to foot

MELBOURNE - A woman in Australia is suing AirAsia after her foot was injured when an air hostess fell on her.

Ms Erin Crocker, 36, was returning to Melbourne from a family holiday in Thailand last April 4 when the plane hit severe turbulence and she was thrown to the floor, Melbourne's Herald Sun newspaper reported last Friday.

A flight attendant then fell on her, injuring her right foot. Ms Crocker suffered multiple joint fractures, tore a ligament and needed major surgery that needed weeks of rest, the paper reported. She also suffered deep vein thrombosis below her right knee.

Ms Crocker, a nurse, is seeking damages for pain and suffering, loss of enjoyment of life, medical expenses and loss of income. She has rejected a settlement offer, the paper said.

A separate online report by Australia's Channel 7 shows a picture from Ms Crocker's Facebook page in which she is on a plane with her bruised right foot resting on a pillow. Another picture shows her foot after surgery, with two large incisions stitched up.

Ms Crocker has lodged a compensation claim in the Supreme Court of Victoria state.

Her lawyer, Ms Nancy Yonan, said that in its compensation offer, AirAsia wanted Ms Crocker to sign away any future entitlement to making a claim.

"It is unfortunate that we had to commence legal proceedings in the Supreme Court, but AirAsia made an offer of settlement which represents only a minute fraction of the claim's true value," the Herald Sun quoted Ms Yonan as saying.


This article was first published on Jan 18, 2015.
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