Passenger sues airline after he was seated near ‘extremely large man’

British Airways is being sued for £10,000 by a frustrated
passenger who says that he was injured after being forced to sit
next to an obese man on a flight from Bangkok to London.

Stephen Prosser, 51, claims to have suffered a pelvic injury
after being pinned against the side of the plane by a passenger he
reportedly described as “6ft 5in elk, weighing over 146kg.”

Prosser claims that the sheer size of the large passenger left
him crushed throughout the 12-hour flight, allegedly causing nerve
damage to his back, according to an interview he gave with the
Daily Mail.

Moreover, despite repeated requests to change seat, Mr. Prosser
insists that the air cabin crew refused to help him.

The Guardian, on November 16, 2018, reported that Pontypridd
county court in Wales was told that the flight’s cabin crew
repeatedly ignored Mr. Prosser’s request to be moved and his
concern that if he were forced to continue sitting next to the man,
whom he described as an “extremely large passenger,” he suffer
injuries.

Although the flight was full, Mr Prosser maintains that the
cabin crew could have moved the obese man to the aisle seat,
reducing discomfort for others.

The plaintiff also told the courts that: “he was that large that
he had to force his buttocks between the armrests of the seats. He
sat with his knees wedged against the seat in front and the rest of
his body was overspilling into my seat by some inches.”

“I was immediately aware that this was going to be problematic
for me and I could feel the weight of his pure bulk putting lateral
pressure on my upper body. This forced me into a position of
unnatural posture,” he reportedly added.

Prosser also told the courts that since the incident he has been
unable to work properly as a consequence of chronic back pain.
However, not everyone has brought into his version of events.

Timothy Salisbury, who represents British Airways at the trial,
said that Mr Prosser was “exaggerating,” according to the
Guardian.

A verdict on the trial has not yet been pronounced.

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