Local News in Brief : Passenger Can Sue TWA
An airline passenger who was forced to send her husband’s ashes through the baggage check-in rather than carry them aboard has won the right to sue Trans World Airlines for damages for losing the luggage.
Dorothy T. Coughlin, 67, of Corona had sued TWA for $78,000 in 1985, but a federal judge ruled the airline was liable for only $1,250 under a tariff limitation.
The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals overturned that decision on Tuesday, however, and ruled that Coughlin’s case should go to trial.
The ashes were lost after a flight from Los Angeles to Boston, where her husband had wanted the remains buried in his family plot.
“He’s still missing,” said Coughlin’s lawyer, Marc Levine. “It was devastating to her. . . . Can you imagine the embarrassment and grief of literally losing your husband?”
The appeals court ruled that a TWA ticket agent violated airline policy by telling Coughlin she had to pack the cremated remains in her suitcase. Airline policy says valuables should be carried aboard.
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