A routine flight home from a conference has turned into a $40 million lawsuit against Boeing, with a professor claiming toxic fumes on a Delta-operated 737 left him with brain and lung damage, per the Wall Street Journal. Jonathan Harris, then a 44-year-old lecturer at Los Angeles' Loyola Law School, says a "dirty sock"-type odor filled the cabin after his flight from Atlanta landed in August 2024, then intensified as passengers waited about 45 minutes on the tarmac for a gate, per his complaint. He and others reportedly complained of breathing difficulties; Harris says he eventually vomited into a bag and later developed balance problems, tremors, memory issues, and other cognitive symptoms that persist.
Filed last week in Arlington, Virginia, where Boeing is headquartered, the case is described by Harris' attorney as the first in which a passenger from a commercial flight, rather than flight crew, is the lead plaintiff in such a suit against a plane manufacturer. Lawyer Zoe Littlepage says her firm has quietly settled eight similar cases with Boeing over the past decade, with three more pending. Harris' lawsuit alleges exposure to contaminated air from vaporized engine oils on the Boeing 737 and seeks $40 million in damages. Boeing and Delta declined to comment to the Journal.
The airline industry has long argued that such "fume events" are infrequent and not proven to cause serious health problems. But data suggests otherwise: Fume incident reports on Boeing and Airbus jets were nearly 10 times higher last year than a decade ago; internal figures indicate at least 22 such events a day in the US. A CBS analysis from earlier this year found Airbus planes made up 60% of logged fume events in 2024, almost triple the rate of Boeing jets.
Aside from Boeing's 787 Dreamliner, modern jets pull cabin air through the engines, a design that can let contaminants into the aircraft, per the Journal. In September, 39 members of Congress urged the FAA to move faster on addressing fume events. The agency told CBS it promotes "strict cabin air standards" and that "studies have shown cabin air is as good as or better than the air found in offices and homes." It did concede "rare instances" when fumes could seep into the cabin, leading to what the Los Angeles Times has previously compared to a "gym locker" odor.
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