Spirit Airlines Accused of Abandoning Passenger With Dementia Who Was Later Killed on Highway

Spirit Airlines is accused in a federal lawsuit of failing to provide promised assistance to a 75-year-old passenger with dementia, after which the man left George Bush Intercontinental Airport unaccompanied and was fatally struck by multiple vehicles on a nearby highway.

According to the complaint filed April 22 in Houston federal court, a relative checked Marcos Humberto Vindel Osorio in for Spirit Airlines flight 1630 on June 8, 2024, at Palmerola International Airport in Comayagua, Honduras. The relative informed the airline agent about Osorio's mild dementia, which was triggered and exacerbated by stress, and requested assistance with deplaning and navigating the terminal in Houston.

The complaint states that the Spirit agent confirmed assistance would be provided. m. local time. When Osorio did not appear in the arrivals area, family members waiting for him became concerned and contacted police. Searchers later located his body more than three hours after the flight's arrival along U.S. Route 59, also known as the Eastex Freeway, several miles from the airport.

The lawsuit states that Osorio had walked for an estimated two hours before he was struck and killed by multiple vehicles. It contends that the airline's failure to provide the promised assistance was the direct and proximate cause of his death.

The complaint notes that commercial airlines do not ordinarily confirm special assistance for a passenger with a known cognitive disability and then provide no assistance. Individual carriers are responsible for providing disability assistance at airports under the Air Carrier Access Act, which covers passengers with cognitive impairments.

The lawsuit states Osorio was traveling from Honduras to visit family in the United States. It describes him as unaccompanied and disoriented after the flight, having cleared customs without support.

Earlier this year, a traveler in a wheelchair sued Southwest Airlines after an employee allegedly abandoned her in a restroom during a stopover at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. A spokesperson for Spirit Airlines, which recently declared bankruptcy and is winding down operations, declined to comment on the ongoing litigation.

An initial pretrial conference is scheduled for July 17. The Osorio family is seeking compensatory damages, survival damages, wrongful death damages, interest, and compensation for mental anguish, loss of companionship, funeral and burial expenses. "What happened to Osorio is every family's nightmare," attorney Russ Brudner told The Independent.

"This family has suffered an unimaginable loss.