Flight Attendant Breaks Ankle in Severe Airline Turbulence

Tampa, FL (WorkersCompensation.com) - We have all taken a flight that had a little more turbulence than we would like. But last year, one airline worker had turbulence that pales in comparison to a few dips and doges at 30,000 feet, resulting in injury and legal issues.

Eden Garrity, who was a flight attendant for Thomas Cook Airlines was flying from Cuba to Manchester when she broke her ankle in multiple places when she was thrust into the floor of the plane during severe turbulence.

The company began paying benefits but then appears to have gone out of business. This caused Eden to have to seek a new job while still trying to recover from her injuries. Her foot was broken in seven places from the incident. The injury was likely exacerbated by the fact that she could not get medical attention for 7 hours after the injury.

Eden described the turbulence as the plane shooting up 500 feet in a matter of seconds. The turbulence was brought on by a hail storm. In addition to the turbulence, the storm made it completely dark all around the plane.

Eden’s employer is now in receivership and the assets appear to be in the process of being liquidated. This means that Eden will have to get in line with other creditors and fight both the company and the insurance company in order to get paid. This can be problematic if she needs surgery on an emergent basis. Claimants dealing with companies in receivership may have to wait longer than normal as the companies may be using bankruptcy laws to end or restructure their business because of debt.

Foot injuries can be more problematic from other parts of the body in terms of healing, as we continue to need to use our feet during the recovery process. Even while using crutches or a walker, we need to use our feet to get around. People are also often tempted to try and use the body part before it is completely healed.

Flight injuries always involve the issue of jurisdiction or venue. When you have accidents that happen in mid-air, you may wonder which state has jurisdiction over the accident; the one from takeoff or the one from landing. The answer, like many answers in the law, depends on a variety of factors, including how far along the flight path they were, and the states involved.

Flight attendants will typically be considered traveling employees, meaning everything that they do is within the course and scope of employment. This is why these cases represent tough denials on that issue.

In some airline injuries, there may be the potential for subrogation: a suit against a 3rd party to allow the workers’ compensation carrier to offset some of its expenses. This would be if there was some negligence in the maintenance of the plane or the airport. However, there does not appear to the potential for subrogation in this case.

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