The obese airline passenger and injury compensation 

Going through my work notebook this morning I managed to find what I was looking for: a story from way back in 2002 about a British woman who received passenger injury compensation from Virgin Atlantic for the injuries she sustained as a result of being crushed by a seriously obese passenger.

The Swansea woman suffered multiple injuries, including unusually serious sciatica, torn leg muscles and a haematoma in her chest.

The thought that she might have her life changed forever in such horrific and unlikely circumstances must have been far from the freelance writer's mind when she boarded her flight to Los Angeles.

She recalls, "This woman was so enormous that she was literally sitting on top of me. Her left leg was pressing down on my right leg and her arm was across my chest, pinning me down. She was so far across me that, although she was sitting to my right, the haematoma developed in my left breast. To add insult to injury, about halfway into the flight, we discovered that her husband was sitting directly behind her. He clearly knew better than to sit next to his own wife."

Sadly for the woman, the haematoma resulted in her suffering a burst blood vessel in her hand, which, together with her other injuries, resulted in her being hospital-bound in Los Angeles and, eventually, bed-bound for a month when she finally returned to Swansea.

Holiday ruined, naturally, the woman sought to make a holiday accident claim for passenger injury compensation. But Virgin, it would seem, would have none of it, instead offering her "a small basket of tinned goods worth about £15."

Fortunately, the woman thought this offer unacceptable and steadfastly refused it. Eventually Virgin buckled and agreed to pay out £13,000 plus legal costs and medical expenses.

"It's still a paltry amount, but my solicitor advised me to accept it," she said at the time.

"No amount of money would have compensated for the agony I've been through. I used to be a feisty, enthusiastic person and loved travelling, but this has taken the stuffing out of me. My whole quality of life has gone and I now view travelling with horror."

What got me searching for the story was the recent release of a photograph taken by a United Airlines stewardess of a seriously overweight man spilling over his seat into the aisle. No matter how tactful one tries to be about it, it is difficult to avoid saying that the man is clearly huge.

The prevalence of overweight passengers on flights, particularly in America, where one in three people is obese, is a significant problem. In fact, many airlines charge obese people the price of two seats.

This however, has been met with incredulity by some larger people. The National Association for the Advancement of Fat Acceptance (Naafa) tried to challenge this ruling (unsuccessfully) in the American courts.

However, the organisation advises its members to "preboard the plane with the rest of the passengers who need extra time in boarding. When you get to your seat, raise the armrest. This may give you the inch or two of extra space you need. The chances are that the passenger who will be seated next to you won't say anything; if he does, smile pleasantly and say that you'll both be more comfortable if the armrest is up."

Perhaps in some cases this may be fine, but in others I can only fear it might result in a passenger injury compensation claim.

Can I claim?