Airlines sued in runway crash

[CD]

Gilette - the lady you speak of (who wasn't elderly) was burned quite severely at a fast food resteraunt by her coffee - It was not just her hand, it actually spilled on her and was hot enough that it melted her spandex shorts.

...

Snowgoose - that sounds like an urban legend to me.

Lommer... You appear to have the facts of the case incorrect as well (unless there was more than one):

Background of the case
On February 27, 1992, Stella Liebeck, a 79-year-old woman from Albuquerque, New Mexico, ordered a 49-cent cup of coffee from the drive-thru of a local McDonald's restaurant. Liebeck was in the passenger's seat of her Ford Probe, and her grandson Chris parked the car so that Liebeck could add cream and sugar to her coffee. She placed the coffee cup between her knees and pulled the far side of the lid toward her to remove it. In the process, she spilled the entire cup of coffee on her lap.[7]

Liebeck was wearing cotton sweatpants; they absorbed the coffee and held it against her skin as she sat in the puddle of hot liquid for over 90 seconds, scalding her thighs, buttocks, and groin.[8] Liebeck was taken to the hospital, where it was determined that she had suffered third-degree burns on six percent of her skin and lesser burns over sixteen percent.[9] She remained in the hospital for eight days while she underwent skin grafting. Two years of treatment followed.

Liebeck v. McDonald's Restaurants
McDonald's Scalding Coffee Case
Liebeck Attorney Gives Side of Hot-Coffee Case

[Jim N]

So, what happened in that accident? What were the extent of her injuries? Were the airlines neglegent?

I can't say what the extent of her injuries were, but I can help with what happened. I saw it happen from 500m away and heard the discussion on ground.

The Dash (Jazz) was sitting in the line up at L4 at YVR and the MyTravel (Kestral) was taxing for the full length of 08R at L. The line up on L4 was such that the whole taxiway was full. It was hard to see if the tail of the Dash was far enough from the centreline for adequate wing clearance for the 'Bus, but it was very tight either way. As Kestral taxi past the Jazz machine I heard the following on south ground:

Jazz: Ground from Jazz ****, I think the guy behind us just hit us...

Ground: Roger. Break...Kestral did you make contact with the Dash-8 as you went past?

(5 second pause)

Kestral:Vancouver ground, Kestral ***, its, uhhh, possible we did, sir.

Ground then advised the aircraft to standby for Airport Ops. to come out and inspect for possible damage and/or debris....

The aftermath was both planes were towed back to the ramp. I saw the Dash from a distance and it was missing all or most of the right elevator, but otherwise looked OK. I saw the damage on the Kestral machine first hand. I stopped and talked with the AC AMEs who were removing the left winglet from the plane with a scissor lift. There was a gash up the winglet for about 12 inches and about an inch wide. It was obviously toast, but there was no other damage to the airframe according to the engineers. They said the plan was they were just going to ferry it back home sans winglet, which I understand is what happened. The one engineer said that the pilot taxiing had deviated from the line accidentally, and that had caused the prang. If that was the real reason or not who knows.

Regardless of the cause, the impact was not hard. From what I heard both parties were not entirely sure they hit. Might have hit us, thats possible sir, these statements make me think it was not an accident worthy of a lawsuit. How hard could it of been for the pilots to be unsure?
This lady is obviously trying a cash grab. Where are the other plaintiffs? Surely this woman couldn't have been the only one injured....

As a postscript, I heard from a someone who had friends on the Kestral machine. Other than having to stay another night away, it had been a non-event.

The whole idea of a lawsuit over the incident is stupid. I don't think this woman is entitled to a dime....

[wooden spoon]

we were in front of the Dash on L4 and the Dash was tucked in behind us,kind of on an angle.Talk about rubber necking.It was surely a slow impact,as the my travel did not have much room to squeeze by.i doubt the people on the bus even felt it.The bus was stopped just after,within 50ft or so.sounds like ambulance chasing to me.

[GilletteNorth]

http://www.vanfirm.com/mcdonalds-coffee-lawsuit.htm

81 years old isn't elderly? You gotta be pretty stupid to be that old, be a coffee drinker, but not know coffee is normally served hot. If she wanted to be safe while opening it, why was she in a car? Point is, people don't want to take any responsibility for their own stupidity. McDonalds doesn't sell coffee-spill protection slacks, they sell hot coffee. The old bird shoulda known there is danger in dealing with hot liquids and taken more care opening the cup. She didn't, she spilled it, she got burned for her actions and wanted someone else to take the responsibility.

I do see the part in the article where it says she got severly scalded. I have sympathy for her suffering. I was scalded once, it hurt like a sonofagun. But I have no sympathy for her making someone else pay for her own actions.