JetBlue Passenger Says Tea Left Her With Severe Burns

A Connecticut woman traveling alone with her 5-year-old daughter on a JetBlue flight says she was left with "severe," "disfiguring" burns thanks to the drink ordered by a passenger in the row ahead of her. Tahjana Lewis is suing the airline for $1.5 million over the May 15 flight, CBS News reports. According to Lewis' lawsuit, the other passenger ordered a hot tea during the flight's beverage service, but due to turbulence, the tea spilled on Lewis as the flight attendant was serving it. ABC News has a graphic photo of the burns to Lewis' chest; per her lawsuit, her breasts, legs, left buttock and right arm were also burned. She says she was left with scarring and will likely need skin grafts for what her lawyer describes as second- or possibly third-degree burns.

Per the lawsuit, flight attendants started serving beverages despite the fact that "serious," "ongoing turbulence" was happening and the "fasten seatbelt" sign was turned on. The complaint accuses the airline of making a "dangerous and hazardous" decision to serve a "scalding hot" beverage—which was "a temperature that was unreasonably and dangerously hot beyond what is accepted in the food service industry or airline industry"—at such a time. Lewis' lawyer says flight crew did little to help Lewis despite the fact that she was in significant pain and went to the emergency room after the plane landed as scheduled in Connecticut. He adds that the incident was "extremely traumatic" for Lewis' daughter to witness, and says Lewis was left partially disabled and in ongoing pain. (More JetBlue stories.)