Qatar Airways Faces Wrongful Death Lawsuit After 85-Year-Old Passenger Chokes On Non-Vegetarian Meal

Qatar Airways is facing a wrongful death lawsuit in the United States after an 85-year-old passenger, a strict vegetarian, reportedly choked and died mid-flight after being served a non-vegetarian meal.

The incident occurred on a Los Angeles–Colombo flight in July 2023, when Dr Asoka Jayaweera, a retired cardiologist from Southern California, was allegedly denied the vegetarian meal he had pre-ordered. According to the lawsuit filed by his son, Surya Jayaweera, the flight crew advised him to 'eat around' the meat in the regular meal provided, The Independent reported.

While attempting to do so, Jayaweera began choking and subsequently lost consciousness. Despite efforts by the flight crew and remote medical guidance from MedAire, a company that provides inflight medical assistance, he never regained consciousness.

The complaint further alleges that the pilot declined to make an emergency landing, claiming the aircraft was “traveling over the Arctic Circle/Ocean.” However, the family contends that flight data shows the plane was actually flying over the US Midwest at the time, where a diversion would have been possible.

The aircraft eventually landed in Edinburgh, Scotland, several hours later. Jayaweera was transported to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead on Aug. 3, 2023, as per The Independent report.

The wrongful death lawsuit, filed in a California federal court, accuses Qatar Airways of negligence, citing failures in both the meal service and the medical response protocol. The family’s attorneys argue that the airline breached its duty of care by not honoring the passenger’s pre-booked vegetarian meal request and by failing to provide adequate emergency medical response during the incident.

According to court filings, the cause of death was aspiration pneumonia— a condition resulting from inhaling food or liquid into the lungs.

The complaint also references the Montreal Convention, an international treaty governing airline liability in cases of injury or death on board. Both Qatar and the United States are signatories, and the treaty limits statutory compensation to roughly $175,000 in such cases.

The case has reignited concerns over in-flight food safety and allergy management. Qatar Airways has faced similar controversies in recent years — including two separate complaints from British reality TV star Jack Fowler, who alleged he nearly died after being served nuts despite informing the crew of his severe allergy.

In a similar incident earlier this year, a Singapore Airlines flight from Frankfurt to New York was forced to divert to Paris after a 41-year-old woman from New York City became 'violently ill' when she was allegedly served a meal containing shrimp, despite her known shellfish allergy.