Screaming child lands Qantas in court after sending woman deaf
Jul 26, 2010, 10:10 am
#1
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Screaming child lands Qantas in court after sending woman deaf
IT can be a traveller's great fear - sitting near a screaming child on a passenger plane.
US tourist Jean Barnard, who embarked on her dream holiday to Australia and New Zealand in January last year, alleges the trip became a nightmare when she boarded a Darwin-bound Qantas plane in Alice Springs, walked to her assigned seat and came face-to-face with a three-year-old boy across the aisle.
The boy allegedly leaned back over his armrest toward Ms Barnard and let out a scream so severe that blood erupted from her ears, leaving her "stone cold deaf".
No other passengers were injured.
US tourist Jean Barnard, who embarked on her dream holiday to Australia and New Zealand in January last year, alleges the trip became a nightmare when she boarded a Darwin-bound Qantas plane in Alice Springs, walked to her assigned seat and came face-to-face with a three-year-old boy across the aisle.
The boy allegedly leaned back over his armrest toward Ms Barnard and let out a scream so severe that blood erupted from her ears, leaving her "stone cold deaf".
No other passengers were injured.
I recently had the privilege of sitting next to a screaming lap child on a UA flight in F from LAX to IAD.
I figured that copious amounts of vodka would alleviate the problem but I could not get the child to drink it! 
Anyway, I opted to consume it myself and woke up just before landing in IAD, having been oblivious to much of the child's tantrums through most of the flight.
Jul 26, 2010, 10:14 am
#2
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.....
What kind of lung power does this superhero kid have?
"The pain was so excruciating that I didn't even know I was deaf," Ms Barnard said
Jul 26, 2010, 4:53 pm
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This sucks, but I don't see how the airline is responsible over the parents other than deeper pockets.
I would be in favor of not allowing kids under some certain age in premium cabins or have a kids section of the plane, like the last 10 rows or something.
I would be in favor of not allowing kids under some certain age in premium cabins or have a kids section of the plane, like the last 10 rows or something.
Jul 26, 2010, 8:22 pm
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Yeah, I don't likes too noisy inside the aircraft. The kids are not appropriate for the behaviors during in-flight. It should have to keep be quiet during in-flight is motion. These psasengers are complaining with the kids while the entire family were on their way to DRW. It should kept the mouth shut.
Jul 26, 2010, 10:08 pm
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Jul 26, 2010, 10:43 pm
#13
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a scream so severe that blood erupted from her ears
Here's the meat of this story to me:
Ms Barnard has been locked in a legal tussle with Qantas for more than a year, with the 67-year-old claiming she suffered severe and permanent injuries, including sudden sensio-neural hearing loss, from the child's scream and sought damages for physical and mental suffering, medical expenses and loss of impairment of earning capacity.
Her lawyer, Brian Lawler, argued Qantas was negligent because the plane's cabin and cockpit crew failed "to take all the necessary precautions to prevent the accident that resulted" in her "injury".
Qantas' US legal team vigorously fought the case, claiming there was evidence Ms Barnard had a hearing problem before she departed the US for Australia, and defended the flight staff and crew, telling the court: "Plaintiff's injuries, if any, were caused by the arbitrary and volitional act of a three-year-old child.
Jul 27, 2010, 12:38 pm
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I have two neices who can scream at a very high pitchc but so far no blood has erupted from my ears.
Here's the meat of this story to me:
Ms Barnard has been locked in a legal tussle with Qantas for more than a year, with the 67-year-old claiming she suffered severe and permanent injuries, including sudden sensio-neural hearing loss, from the child's scream and sought damages for physical and mental suffering, medical expenses and loss of impairment of earning capacity.
Here's the meat of this story to me:
Ms Barnard has been locked in a legal tussle with Qantas for more than a year, with the 67-year-old claiming she suffered severe and permanent injuries, including sudden sensio-neural hearing loss, from the child's scream and sought damages for physical and mental suffering, medical expenses and loss of impairment of earning capacity.
Her story sounds plausible (though the part about both ears makes me think it's more likely related to pressure change or something else)... I'll ask my friendly otolaryngologist about it.
Some pre-existing conditions are correlated with SSHL, and large changes in air pressure (e.g. flying in an aircraft) are also associated with SSHL, but, AFAIK, most cases of SSHL are idiopathic.