A passenger suing Emirates for an accident caused by being denied a glass of water has failed in her court case against the airline. Australian Lina Di Falco suffered a broken ankle after falling onboard a flight and has blamed the airline for denying her fluids. Yesterday, a court ruled against the woman, who is now potentially liable for legal costs running into hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Emirates, Jimmy Fallon, The Today Show
The Airbus A380 would become a crucial part of the Emirates fleet. Photo: Tom Boon - Simple Flying

What are the details?

Lina Di Falco, an Australian woman was flying from Melbourne to Dubai back in 2015 when she claims she was not served enough fluids during the journey. She claimed that after take-off she was only served one beverage with her meal and despite asking four times for an additional glass of water, no flight attendant came through with the request.

She normally drank one liter of water during the day and took another liter with her to bed.

Because she was so thirsty, she had to get up and find herself a glass of water during the flight. Fumbling in the dark on her way to the bathrooms, dizzy and feeling like she was going to vomit, she fainted and crushed her ankle.

She was immobilized and according to The Guardian, her pain was 10 out of 10. Flight attendants helped her back to her seat, and managed to find a large bottle of water for the rest of her trip.

Why did she sue the airline?

Following her holiday, Miss Falco returned home to Australia to discover that she had a broken ankle and had to undergo surgery. Following her hospital stay, she was unable to work at her local job and had to take two months off.

“It’s always aching ... since the accident,” Di Falco said to the Guardian.

Because she was no longer as mobile, she withdrew from her friends and missed out on social events. She even blames the accident on her marriage falling apart as she was no longer able to help out around the house (and in a somewhat sexist way, perform the role of the wife).

“Because of the accident, I couldn’t be ... the wife that he married,”

Realizing that all these problems could be attributed to her lack of water and the fact that Emirates had failed to take care of her, she decided to sue them in the Australian courts.

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Emirates told Simple Flying that passenger safety was never compromised. Photo: Emirates

What was the judge's ruling?

On Tuesday this week, the case was heard and Justice Jacinta Forbes issued that the airline was not liable.

In this author's opinion, there had provided plenty of opportunities for Miss Falco to have more fluids. She could have brought her own water onboard and there was even a drinking tap onboard the aircraft that was self serve.

Miss Falco was not at the court at the time of the judgment.

The court then invited Emirates to claim costs against Miss Falco, especially since the Australian woman had rejected previous offers from Emirates to settle out of court.

Now she is on the line for thousands if not hundreds of thousands of legal costs.

The judge will make another ruling on how much she is expected to pay. The airline has been reached out to for comment.

What do you think? Is this fair? Should Emirates have taken better care of the passenger? Let us know in the comments.