A US appeals court ruled that an airline that forced an
elderly woman to check a bag with her medical devices must
bear responsibility for her subsequent death after losing
the bag. A lower court ruled in 2002 that Americans
Airlines parent company AMR and BWIA International Airways
should pay USD$226,238.81 to Caroline Neischer's
relatives because she died soon after her bag was
lost. Mrs Neischer’s said it was the first
case of its kind. “The significance of the case is
that never before has an airline been held liable for the
death of a passenger caused by delayed or missing
baggage.” Mrs Neischer, who spent most of her life
in her native Guyana, died at age 75 after flying from Los
Angeles to Guyana in 1997. After Mrs Neischer transferred
from an American Airlines flight in New York, a ground
agent forced her to check a bag that contained a breathing
device to treat her respiratory problems. The agent
promised she would be given the bag immediately upon
arriving in Guyana. However, the bag was lost and Neischer
died days later.