A passenger hit United Airlines with a lawsuit accusing it of covering up an incident last year in which his Chicago-to-London flight was forced to make an emergency landing “that nearly resulted in the loss of life of all aboard.”
Flight 931 was flying at an altitude of about 40,000 feet on Oct. 27, 2018, when the windshield shattered as a result of what United has blamed on a bird strike — leading to “a terrifyingly rapid descent” to Goose Bay, Canada, according to the lawsuit.
“Utter silence filled the plane, as the various passengers gripped their arm-rests with white knuckles during this episode. Many aboard thought they were going to die,” the complaint read.
“The injured and shocked passengers were then left to stew on board the plane for 8 hours, without any relief, until a replacement airplane arrived from New York to continue their journey,” it added.
Theodore Liaw of California included a photo of the Boeing 767-300’s damaged cockpit window, which is made up of three reinforced layers of glass — the first two of which were “completely compromised” and leaking air.
“Courageously, Flight 931’s co-pilot quickly pushed his weight against what was left of the third and last layer of the cockpit window, which may have prevented the entire window from breaking during the descent to Goose Bay,” the lawsuit says.
“Had that last layer disappeared, both pilots would have likely been sucked out of the plane and Flight 931’s passengers would have been doomed.”
Liaw claimed that during the eight-hour wait, the pilots told him that “everyone on board would have either died from the impact or would have quickly frozen to death in the cold ocean” had the plane been farther over the Atlantic at the time.
“As it turned out, the cause of the shattered cockpit window was the negligence of a United airplane mechanic. That mechanic had over-torqued the bolts of the cockpit window while the plane was on the ground,” according to the complaint.
“Insultingly, United soon fabricated an excuse for this accident. It instructed its customer support personnel to explain to customers that a ‘bird hit the windshield’ — an utterly preposterous story for numerous reasons, especially given that no birds live or fly at that altitude.”
Liaw said the airline offered each passenger a $500 voucher “to let bygones be bygones.”
He said he suffered bodily injury and severe emotional distress as a result of the incident and seeks “fair compensation from United from his close brush with death” due to the airline’s alleged negligence.
Liaw, a CEO for a customer service relations center based in Maine who has flown 1 million miles with United, says he now has a fear of flying.
During two recent short-hop flights, he “experienced nausea, anxiety, dizziness, and sleepiness,” his lawsuit claims. “He is doing his best to treat his condition with therapy, but if it does not abate, his entire career might be in jeopardy.”
In a statement, the airline said: “At United, safety is our top priority and we diverted the aircraft due to an issue with the cockpit window.
“The aircraft landed safely, and we are continuing to investigate this matter. Due to the pending litigation, we’re unable to comment further,” it told Fox News.
In a statement to The Post, United rep Erin Benson said: “At United, safety is our top priority and we diverted the aircraft due to an issue with the cockpit window. The aircraft landed safely, and we are continuing to investigate this matter. Due to the pending litigation, we’re unable to comment further.”
