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Family sues Alaska Airlines after wheelchair-bound grandmother fell down airport escalator...
DAILY MAIL UK ^ | Dec. 29, 2017 | Mary Kekatos For Dailymail.com

Posted on 12/29/2017 9:44:57 AM PST by Morgana

FULL TITLE: Family sues Alaska Airlines after wheelchair-bound grandmother fell down airport escalator and died following surgery to amputate her leg due to wounds from her accident

A family is suing Alaska Airlines and a contractor after a disabled 75-year-old grandmother suffered a fall down a Portland International Airport escalator in June and later died.

Video captured the moment that Bernice Kekona, seat-belted to her power wheelchair, tumbled and crashed down an escalator, landing near the bottom with the heavy chair on top of her.

After her flight from Hawaii landed in Portland in June 2017, the family says they hired a contractor to make sure Kekona arrived safely to her connecting flight. But now they argue the airline and its contractor did not provide the service as promised.

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(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy
KEYWORDS: airlines; alaskaairlines; disability; kekona; lawsuit; pdx
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That was one bad mess up
1 posted on 12/29/2017 9:44:58 AM PST by Morgana
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To: Morgana
Who is the idiot who decided to put a wheelchair on an escalator? Everyone I've seen has a sign for no wheelchairs and no strollers.
2 posted on 12/29/2017 9:47:50 AM PST by KarlInOhio (The Whig Party died when it fled the great fight of its century. Ditto for the Republicans now.)
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To: KarlInOhio

From the article, it sounds like this poor confused woman put herself on the escalator.


3 posted on 12/29/2017 9:49:58 AM PST by Menehune56 ("Let them hate so long as they fear" (Oderint Dum Metuant), Lucius Accius (170 BC - 86 BC))
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To: KarlInOhio

Yup, and elevators are provided for this. Slam dunk for some lucky attorney.


4 posted on 12/29/2017 9:50:23 AM PST by SgtHooper (If you remember the 60's, YOU WEREN'T THERE!)
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To: Morgana

Unless an Alaska Airlines staff member tried to put her wheelchair on an escalator, there is no case.


5 posted on 12/29/2017 9:52:30 AM PST by LydiaLong
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To: Morgana

I don’t see how that’s Alaska Airlines’ fault. I’m sure there are elevators in that airport. Either way, hard to see AA as the either the direct cause or proximate cause of this and without cause you ain’t got negligence.


6 posted on 12/29/2017 9:52:40 AM PST by Jim W N
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To: KarlInOhio
Who is the idiot who decided to put a wheelchair on an escalator? Everyone I've seen has a sign for no wheelchairs and no strollers.

Exactly. That's what elevators are for.

7 posted on 12/29/2017 9:53:21 AM PST by pgkdan (The Silent Majority STILL Stands With TRUMP!)
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To: Menehune56
Ol' granny's family and their lawyers will suck the taxpayers for a few million dollars out of this.

Bless old retarded and legless granny.

It's the American dream!!!

8 posted on 12/29/2017 9:53:41 AM PST by bagster (Even bad men love their mamas.)
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To: KarlInOhio; All

“Who is the idiot who decided to put a wheelchair on an escalator?”

Read the article! She was a sick old woman. Someone was suppose to escort her from one terminal to the next. They got her off one plane but left her on her own. She got confused. She thought she was getting in an elevator but by the time she realized her mistake it was too late.

This company, Alaska and Huntliegh, had one job and people too lazy to do it?


9 posted on 12/29/2017 9:55:47 AM PST by Morgana ( Always a bit of truth in dark humor.)
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To: Morgana
I'm not sure I'd award her any money.If she was so mentally compromised that she decided to go down an escalator in her wheelchair than someone should have flown *with* her.I know this because I cared for my wheelchair bound,and neurologically compromised,Dad for almost 10 years.He liked Florida in January so we'd *both* fly down because if someone hadn't gone with him something *very* bad *surely* would have happened.

This is familial negligence...first and foremost.

10 posted on 12/29/2017 9:56:08 AM PST by Gay State Conservative (Remember: All Cultures Are Equal!)
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To: LydiaLong

It sounds like they may be comparing this to the airline being responsible for a minor on the plane and somehow the minor gets lost and is picked up by a pimp.

Or something like that.


11 posted on 12/29/2017 9:57:28 AM PST by robroys woman (So you're not confused, I'm male.)
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To: LydiaLong

Read the article! The family paid Alaska and Huntliegh to have someone take her from one flight to another.


12 posted on 12/29/2017 9:58:05 AM PST by Morgana ( Always a bit of truth in dark humor.)
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To: LydiaLong
Unless an Alaska Airlines staff member tried to put her wheelchair on an escalator, there is no case.

From the article:

Kekona's family is now suing Alaska Airlines and Huntleigh, USA for failing to provide what they say was agreed upon gate-to-gate transportation.

I believe she was trying to make a connecting flight and was not escorted between gates.

13 posted on 12/29/2017 9:58:21 AM PST by Yo-Yo (Is the /sarc tag really necessary?)
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To: Morgana

The family says they hired someone to take care of her but the airlines says she refused help. Someone is lying.

The video shows granny wheeling herself to the escalator. If she was that addleheaded then the family should have been there to help her themselves.


14 posted on 12/29/2017 9:58:31 AM PST by bgill (CDC site, "We don't know how people are infected with Ebola.")
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To: KarlInOhio

“Who is the idiot who decided to put a wheelchair on an escalator? Everyone I’ve seen has a sign for no wheelchairs and no strollers.”

Exactly my thoughts. I thought they were specifically verboten on escalators. How can one even imagine that could work? Sure, if there is an attendant leaning the chair back, but even then, the steps don’t seem like they would be wide enough for the big rear wheels.


15 posted on 12/29/2017 10:00:05 AM PST by Attention Surplus Disorder (Apoplectic is where we want them.)
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To: bgill

They did! The company Huntliegh got her off the flight then left her on her own.

More here:

https://www.kxly.com/news/spokane-family-sues-alaska-airlines-for-mothers-escalator-fall/678606175


16 posted on 12/29/2017 10:00:19 AM PST by Morgana ( Always a bit of truth in dark humor.)
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To: KarlInOhio
The elderly lady (who died) said she thought it was an elevator.

Sorry....the family didn't make a great decision on this one. Should have sent a family member or someone close to accompany her...all the way. It's simply not that much money.

Something just doesn't seem right...and I'm talking "the family".

17 posted on 12/29/2017 10:01:30 AM PST by Sacajaweau
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To: Attention Surplus Disorder

Well on 2nd read, if they hired a gate-to-gate attendant they are distinctly liable.


18 posted on 12/29/2017 10:02:01 AM PST by Attention Surplus Disorder (Apoplectic is where we want them.)
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To: bagster

“Bless old retarded and legless granny. “

Oh Bagster,there you go again. Do NOT poke fun at old people.

Signed,

Mears——(an old person.)

.


19 posted on 12/29/2017 10:02:05 AM PST by Mears
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To: Morgana

She thought she was in an elevator? Why on earth would any family send a 75 year old woman on a trip like that alone? Granted a lot of 75 year old men or women could handle it without any problem. I’m lots older and probably could but I’m not handicapped and don’t require a wheelchair.

Trust someone else to take care of someone they should have taken care of themselves? Even if they had no interest in going to OR, some member of the family should have made the trip with her...I doubt she was a world traveler with lots of experience.

No doubt that thought occurred to them when it was too late. Sad but good grief, when are people going to start using the brain God gave them? An elderly handicapped woman on a plane alone from HI to OR? Nothing works except stupidity!


20 posted on 12/29/2017 10:03:31 AM PST by Thank You Rush
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