Qatar Airways sued over teen's death

Qatar Airways is facing a lawsuit after a passenger's family alleged their 16-year-old son died mid-flight following a severe allergic reaction to a sandwich served on board.

The family of Jason Hu filed a civil complaint against Qatar Airways and MedAire, a medical and travel safety services firm, on July 14 in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. The complaint relates to an incident on August 21, 2024.

According to the family, Jason was returning to the United States with his sister, Erica, and father, Eric, after a trip to China, with a connecting flight from Doha to New York's John F Kennedy International Airport.

Jason reportedly had allergies to peanuts, dairy and fish, which he and his father allegedly disclosed to the cabin crew. The complaint claims crew members nevertheless assured them that a sandwich was safe for him to eat.

Shortly after eating it, Jason allegedly began struggling to breathe and collapsed. A nebuliser he tried using reportedly failed to help.

According to the complaint, a crew member then gave Jason an unidentified injection, which also did not help. A portable oxygen tank that was subsequently provided was also allegedly non-functional.

The complaint states that Jason is believed to have died during the flight and remained in his seat, with a non-functioning oxygen mask on his face, for the remainder of the journey. He was pronounced dead on arrival at JFK.

Jason's father and Jenny Nguyen, co-administrators of his estate, are now suing Qatar Airways and MedAire, seeking compensatory damages over the teenager's death and demanding a jury trial.

The lawsuit alleges that Qatar Airways failed to keep onboard medical equipment, including the oxygen tank and an epinephrine auto-injector, in working order.

It also claims that MedAire, which provides remote medical guidance to airlines, failed to give the flight crew adequate medical and diversion advice during the emergency.

Neither Qatar Airways nor MedAire has publicly responded to the allegations. The case is pending before the federal court in Pennsylvania.