Boeing is facing a second lawsuit from passengers aboard the tumultuous Alaska Airlines flight that’s grabbed headlines since January. But this time, the passengers put a price tag on their suffering — a big one.
Kyle Rinker, Amanda Strickland, and Kevin Kwok sued the airline for $1 billion, alleging they suffered “extreme panic, fear, and post-traumatic stress” when a door plug flew off a Boeing 737 Max 9 during their flight from Portland to Ontario. Separately, 22 other passengers filed a class action lawsuit in Washington state.
“The main difference in the cases is that I am seeking a large amount of punitive damages, and those are not available in Washington,” Jonathan Johnson, the attorney in the new lawsuit, told Quartz, citing state law. He filed the complaint on behalf of the passengers in Oregon.
Plaintiffs in the Washington suit can only seek “compensatory damages” for the passengers’ “personal and economic harms” outlined in that lawsuit.
“Punitive damages are meant to penalize the defendant, whereas compensatory damages are meant to make up for actual losses.” -John Foy & Associates
Rinker told local news outlet KGW8 in Portland that he thinks about the flight “almost daily.” He and his girlfriend, Strickland, were seated diagonally across from the massive hole left in the plane when the door plug blew out, forcing an emergency landing.
The case so far has garnered widespread media attention.
“We think this is a serious case impacting public safety,” Johnson said.
The Federal Aviation Administration said in a report Feb. 26 that Boeing is not fulfilling its safety goals and gave the airplane manufacturer 90 days to come up with a plan to do better.
Boeing investors also sued the aircraft producer for allegedly “prioritizing profits over safety” and said it gave “false and misleading” statements about its business operations that “deceived[d] the market.”
By the numbers
174: Passengers aboard the Alaska Airlines flight.
$1 billion: Damages sought by Kyle Rinker, Amanda Strickland, and Kevin Kwok.
$78 billion: Boeing’s revenue in 2023.
18.9%: How much Boeing stock fell in the month after the door plug blowout.
$100 million: How much Boeing set aside to compensate family members of the 346 people who died from crashes of Boeing 737 Max aircraft between the end of 2018 and the start of 2019.