A New York woman has sued EgyptAir for $5 million in damages, claiming that a "scalding beverage" was splashed on her as she boarded the flight from John F. Kennedy Airport to Cairo, according to a report in NY Post. The woman has been identified as 35-year-old Esraa Hezain who said she suffered "second-degree burns" from the hot liquid. As per the Brooklyn federal court documents, the incident took place in February earlier this year as the beverage, kept in a "lidless cup" of tea flew off a "defective" seat tray and splashed over her.
After the beverage was served, the flight encountered "significant turbulence" that led to the incident. The suit alleged that the flight crew "failed to suspend service prior to the turbulence or issue a warning of the impending turbulence".
Hezain's attorney, Abram Bohrer informed the outlet that his client had suffered second-degree burns to her lower abdomen, her right inner thigh and buttocks. "For the price of a lid this didn't have to happen," he said.
EgyptAir had not commented on the incident as of the last update.
Previous case
The case bears similarities to a 2019 incident when a four-year-old girl suffered second-degree burns after a flaming-hot McDonald Chicken McNugget fell on her thigh in Florida, USA. Philana Holmes had taken her son and daughter to Tamarac McDonald's and bought the Happy Meals when she received the order but was not warned of the scalding nature of the food.
After receiving the food package, Ms Holmes passed it along to her daughter and son in the back seat of the car and drove away. A few moments later, her daughter, identified in court as Olivia Caraballo, an autistic child, started screaming immediately, forcing Ms Holmes to pull up in a parking lot.
Also read | US Girl Awarded $800,000 After She Was Severely Burned By McDonald's Chicken Nugget
After four years of legal battle, a South Florida jury in July 2023, awarded $800,000 in damages to Caraballo after the family initially sought $15 million in damages.
"I'm actually just happy they listened to Olivia's voice and she, the jury was able to decide a fair judgement, I'm happy with that," Ms Holmes said at the time.
