Airline Ordered to Pay $9.6M to Passenger Who Had Stroke

A federal jury has ordered American Airlines to pay $9.6 million to a California man who suffered a stroke on a 2021 transatlantic flight after the crew allegedly shrugged off warning signs. Jesus Plasencia, a 67-year-old chef, had just boarded a Miami-to-Madrid flight with his wife when he suddenly lost coordination and started speaking incoherently—classic red flags for a transient ischemic attack, known as a "mini-stroke," according to a lawsuit filed in 2023. Plasencia's wife, Ana Maria Marcela Tavantzis, alerted crew members and insisted her husband was having a stroke, USA Today reports.

A flight attendant told the pilot, but the couple's concerns were dismissed, according to the lawsuit. It states that the pilot joked with Plasencia, then cleared the flight for departure instead of following emergency protocols, which require contacting medical professionals or seeking help from doctors on board. Plasencia's symptoms briefly improved, but he suffered a major stroke hours into the flight. According to the lawsuit, flight attendants asked passengers to keep an eye on him but didn't alert the pilot, the San Francisco Chronicle. reports. After the plane landed in Madrid, he was hospitalized for three weeks before an air ambulance brought him home to California.

"Today ... Plasencia can neither speak, write, nor communicate effectively, much less walk, feed, bathe himself, clothe himself, or use the toilet without assistance," the lawsuit said, per the Chronicle. "Plasencia depends entirely on daily, significant, around-the-clock, in-home care and intensive rehabilitation." The jury found American Airlines liable for failing to adhere to both industry standards and its own procedures, as required under the Montreal Convention, which governs airline liability for injuries. The airline said it disagrees with the verdict and is currently "evaluating next steps," per USA Today.

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The $9.6 million verdict, according to the family's lawyer, should cover the 24/7 care Plasencia needs, along with modifications to make his home wheelchair-accessible. "So just from a human perspective, the verdict is really important for those reasons," says attorney Hannah Crowe. She hopes it will also improve stroke awareness and passenger safety. "Of course, you want passengers to be aware that they need to advocate for themselves on airlines, because airlines aren't always following their own policies and procedures," Crowe says.