The family of a passenger from a leading airline is suing the company after their special needs loved one died due to the company's negligence.
According to reports from local media outlets, the lawsuit was launched by Tony Adkins in connection with an incident that he says arose in which his 24-year-old son named Hunter Adkins, passed away.
Hunter was wheelchair-bound while boarding the Allegiant flight, as per the complaint filed. He was a patient who suffered from muscle dystrophy. Sources shared how he fell from a wheelchair while boarding the flight.
As per the complaint, Hunter and his 9-year-old brother were boarding the flight at Huntington Tri-State Airport in West Virginia when the incident arose. Sources revealed how the plane was rushing the boarding process so that the plane could be on the runway in 20 minutes, as per the captain's orders to avoid falling behind on schedule.
The complaint alleges that the wheelchair assistants who were providing services to Allegiant flights were supposed to help transfer Hunter from his motorized wheelchair to an aisle wheelchair narrow enough for him to board the aircraft, but they were disbanded to load luggage to rush the flight's takeoff. Since Hunter was put in a wheelchair that lacked safety straps, he fell, landing face-first on the ground as an assistant pushed him up the ramp to the plane's door.