SAN FRANCISCO — A woman has filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against Southwest Airlines, claiming crew members mistook her husband’s medical emergency for unruly behavior aboard a California flight.
Kelly Ilczyszyn sued Monday in Alameda County Superior Court over the death of her husband, Richard, last year. She seeks unspecified damages.
The lawsuit says 46-year-old Richard Ilczyszyn ran to the bathroom on the flight from Oakland to Orange County about 10 minutes before it was set to land. His wife says crew members heard him crying but treated the incident as a passenger disruption and didn’t help him.
The suit says he was found unconscious about 30 minutes after the plane landed. He had suffered a blood clot and later died.
Southwest Airlines said in a statement its crew acted appropriately and professionally.
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