A 26-year-old Co Wexford woman whose abdomen and thighs were scalded on a Ryanair flight, has been awarded €55,000 in damages against the airline.
Lidija Miliute, whose parents are Lithuanian, told the court she had been reared all her life in Wexford and had been travelling on a flight back from Lithuania when a cup of tea slipped off a defective “slanted” tray table and spilled over her.
She told Judge James O’Donohoe in the Circuit Civil Court today that the boiling hot liquid left her in agonizing pain for almost two hours of the flight despite having received first aid in a toilet from cabin staff and a nurse who was on the flight.
Barrister Conor Kearney, who appeared with Mark Tiernan of Tiernan Solicitors for Ms Miliute, told the court she had suffered very extensive second degree burns when the incident occurred an hour into the flight from Palenga Airport to Dublin on March 28th, 2022.
“She was left with ongoing blemishes particularly on her abdomen and thighs and has a permanent scar to her wrist,” Mr Carney said.
Ms Miliute, a shop manager, of The Chase, Ramsgate Village, Gorey, Co Wexford, said she had been adding milk to her tea on a clumsy and slanted tray table when the cup slid from the cup holder indentation on the tray and spilled over her.
She had been treated in the toilet with cold water and cream and had been asked if she required an ambulance to meet her at Dublin Airport.
On arrival at Dublin she had sought treatment from her GP but some days later had to be treated in St Vincent’s University Hospital in Dublin.
During the flight,she had to return to the bathroom frequently to cool her very painful burns by applying cold water to them.
She said when she had been served the tea her tray table had been slanted towards her and a member of the cabin crew had asked her to try a tray table in the seat next to her but this had also been slanted.
Cabin crew staff who gave evidence in court said they would never have allowed a passenger to continue sitting at a seat where the tray was loose or defective. The seat would have been taped off and the passenger moved to another seat.
One crew member said she had seen Ms Miliute moving around in her seat as if looking for something just prior to the spillage but could not say if her movements contributed to the accident.
A Ryanair technical services engineer told the court there were frequently scheduled inspections of aircraft cabins and logs kept of any required repairs. Inspectors or cabin crew would report any defects that required repair but there had been no reports of defective table tray repairs immediately prior to the incident complained of or for two weeks following the incident.
Cabin crew denied that Ms Miliute had been advised to try another table tray in the seat next to her or that the trays had been found to be defective. The senior crew steward said there had not been any discussion about a slanted or defective tray table. She said there was no turbulence and crew would immediately stop trolley service in the event of turbulence.
Judge O’Donohoe said he found Ms Miliute a responsible and caring individual and could not find any contributory negligence on her part.
“The injuries, it is fair to say, are more of blemish types rather than permanent scarring apart from the scar on her wrist but they are certainly disfiguring,” Judge O’Donohoe said.
“Taking everything into account including the permanent scar to her wrist and the pigmentation on her abdomen and thighs as well as for the considerable pain and suffering I award her €55,000 ,” he said.
On the grounds that liability had been very much in issue Judge O’Donohoe granted Ryanair a stay on his order pending consideration of any possible appeal to the High Court.
