Updated Jul 1, 2009 - 3:52 pm

Lawsuit targets air circulation on Boeing jets

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A lawsuit filed against Boeing claims that a plane's defective ventilation system lead to the circulation of toxic air and may be the cause of irreversible health problems.

In April of 2007, an American Airlines flight attendant said she saw a cloudy haze in the first class cabin as passengers were getting off a McDonnell Douglas airplane.

Terry Williams, forty-year-old former flight attendant, began suffering almost immediately from daily chronic pain, uncontrollable coughing and migraines, claiming that now she can't work.

"I believed that the airlines would be safe," Williams said. "I believed that the FAA wouldn't allow an aircraft to go out and contaminate people of toxic chemicals."

Attorney Mike Withey said the last thing Williams thought she would be exposed to was a toxic nerve agent.

The legal complaint states that the plane's manufacturers knew or should have known that toxic nerve agents, contaminates and dangerous fumes could bleed into the plane's ventilation system and cause serious or irreversible health effects.

Withey said that Boeing should have known about the defective ventilation system that was posing a health risk to everyone and it needs to be held responsible.

"Their delivery system poses a risk beyond which the average consumer would ever expect and therefore it is defective," Withey said.

Williams said she hopes the problem will be fixed in the near future.

"I want everybody who steps on an airplane to be safe," Williams said.

Boeing's only response has been to say the company believes "the air in airplane cabins is safe."

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• MInusblame wrote...

  Is everyone crazy

  she looks like a smoker anyways. Why is that big women (god love em) always tell other people about whats bothering them rather than the personthing that is the "problem" what health problems is she talking about not having enough cash to buy peroxide for her hair? Lets sue Boeing so they can lay of the last bit of employees that should help everyone breathe easier.

  July 1, 2009 3:00 pm

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• KeysAndStops wrote...

  Here we go again!

  Another crazy bored trouble-making person who doesn't have anything better to do than blame their health problems on someone else and then sue them. I just hate this suit-happy world! When will it ever end?

  July 1, 2009 3:23 pm

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• Dark Jedi wrote...

  Unless a terrorist was on board

  Where did that "nerve agent" come from? How do they know it was a nerve agent? Did they collect a sample? No, it's just easier to sue a big company and make a big fuss about it in the media so they'll settle out of court for a large chunk of money. You don't see them making these claims against Airbus. She'll have to come up with more concrete evidence than "I saw a cloudy haze". I feel if these claims are proven false, then she should pick up the legal costs that Boeing had to fork out.

  July 1, 2009 3:49 pm

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• Reach63 wrote...

  Dark Jedi...

  Agreed! Those are some pretty substantial claims she's making. I flew for a living quite a while back on one of Boeing's finest (B707) and I seem to remember that hazy cloud coming out of the AC packs was CONDENSED HUMIDITY! I say if she looses, she pays.

  July 1, 2009 4:07 pm

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• CharlieZee wrote...

  Lawsuit regarding air quality on a Boeing aircraft

  The last time I had fresh air on an airplane was when I was on a pallet on the floor of a C-124 over the Pacific. The unpressurized atmosphere was drafty and cold but fresh!

  July 1, 2009 5:12 pm

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• MInusblame wrote...

  i cant spell and dont own shoes

  I made a comment earlier after a few drinks and now after my nap I'd like to say that I am very witty when drunk, but can not spell.

  July 1, 2009 9:44 pm

  69289

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• CharlieZee wrote...

  Improved spelling

  Hey, there, shoeless. It's "cannot", not "can not." But you're improving!

  July 2, 2009 11:12 pm

  69594

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