A Southern California cardiologist flying Qatar Airways from Los Angeles to Sri Lanka was denied the vegetarian meal he had ordered, then died after choking on a piece of food while attempting to “eat around” the meat in meal he was given instead, according to his grieving family.
The pilot couldn’t make an emergency landing to get 85-year-old Asoka Jayaweera to a doctor because the plane was “traveling over the Arctic Circle/Ocean,” alleges a newly filed wrongful death lawsuit obtained by The Independent.
However, Jayaweera’s son Surya contends the aircraft was actually over the Midwest at the time and could have easily diverted, their complaint states.
When the flight eventually touched down in Edinburgh, Scotland, Jayaweera, a “strict vegetarian,” had been unconscious for some three-and-a-half hours, according to the complaint. It says he was taken to the hospital – but that it was already too late.
In addition to standard options such as chicken biryani and couscous with beef, Qatar Airways, the flag carrier of the Emirate of Qatar, offers 19 special meals – of which seven are meat-free: a vegan meal completely devoid of meat, poultry, fish, honey, eggs, or dairy products; a raw vegetarian meal containing only uncooked fruits and vegetables; a vegetarian lacto-ovo meal, which does not contain any meat, poultry, or seafood, but does include egg and/or dairy products; a vegetarian Hindu meal; a vegetarian Jain meal; a vegetarian “Oriental” meal; a children’s vegetarian meal; and a fruit platter.
Travelers with specific dietary restrictions have run into trouble before, midflight. Last year, British reality star Jack Fowler, who has a severe nut allergy, said he almost died aboard a Qatar Airways flight to Dubai being served a chicken curry containing nuts. The same thing reportedly happened to Fowler a year earlier when he was served ice cream with nuts, also aboard Qatar Airways.
Over the summer, a Singapore Airlines flight from Frankfurt to New York City was forced to land in Paris when a 41-year-old New York City woman allergic to shellfish became “violently ill” after she said she was served a meal containing shrimp.
A Qatar Airways spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment Monday. A message sent to the attorney representing the carrier in the suit brought by Surya Jayaweera – who told The Independent he was bogged down with errands and was unable to be interviewed – went unanswered.
On June 23, 2023, Asoka Jayaweera booked a trip from LA to Colombo, Sri Lanka on Qatar Airways, according to his son’s complaint, which was initially filed July 31 in California state court, and removed to Central California federal court on October 3.
A week later, Jayaweera boarded the flight at Los Angeles International Airport, with a connection in Doha, it states.
About two-and-a-half hours into the 15-and-a-half-hour flight, the onboard meal service began, the complaint continues.
“Mr. Jayaweera was a strict vegetarian and requested a vegetarian meal,” the complaint goes on.
Instead, it says, the flight attendant “informed him that there were no vegetarian meals left and that they could only provide him a regular meal with meat and instructed him to ‘eat around’ the meat.”
“While attempting to ‘eat around’ the meat in the meal that he was provided, Asoka Jayaweera began choking shortly thereafter,” the complaint states. It’s unclear what product he choked on.
Members of the flight crew stepped in to help, and got on the phone with MedAire, a Phoenix, Arizona-based service that has aviation-trained ER doctors available to remotely guide airline staff through in-flight medical emergencies, according to the complaint.
“At approximately 02:46 UTC, Asoka Jayaweera was monitored with an oxygen saturation level of 69 percent,” the complaint says.
Oxygen saturation levels below 88 percent are considered dangerous.
Although the flight at that moment was passing over Wisconsin, the flight crew told Jayaweera’s travel companion, who is not identified in court filings, that the captain was unable to divert because they were already above the Arctic Circle and about to cross the Arctic Ocean, the complaint alleges.
Meanwhile, the crew administered oxygen to Jayaweera, to no avail – his saturation levels never again exceeded 85 percent, according to the complaint, which says Jayaweera lost consciousness at about 07:30 UTC “and was administered drugs.”
“It was not until approximately 11:00 UTC that the aircraft was brought down in Edinburgh, United Kingdom, and Asoka Jayaweera was transported to the hospital,” the complaint states. “Asoka Jayaweera would die in Edinburgh on August 3, 2023, due to aspiration pneumonia,” an infection caused by inhaling food or liquid into the lungs, rather than swallowing it.
The lawsuit notes that Qatar and the United States are members of the Montreal Convention, the international treaty that governs airline liability. It sets a statutory payout limit of roughly $175,000, at current exchange rates, for onboard death and injury claims.
Surya Jayaweera is seeking damages for negligence and wrongful death, in excess of Montreal Convention guidelines, to be determined at trial, plus pre-judgment interest and court costs and attorneys’ fees.
