RRDD

Agreed. Even at 290 pounds, I don't need the extender. It's close, but i still manage. I would bet that two different 400 pounders could easily fit in a row of three seats.

Updated: Yikes. I just looked at the photos. I was assuming the two 400 pounders were mobile.

pinniped

425 would be a solid 2 seats in almost any circumstances. That's pretty huge...even 7-foot NBA centers or 6'6" NFL defensive linemen aren't *that* big. They're a solid 80-100 pounds lighter.

If the woman was 5'8", then it has to be hard to even move at 425.

gooseman13

sounds like she couldn't move into the seat, even if it could accommodate her

Jaimito Cartero

I know people in this weight range who fly on a weekly basis. Not missing a leg, obviously. She flew out there in two seats, even if she gained some weight, she should be able to make it back. I'd guess it was more than the weight.

Physique-wise, it also depends on body type. Muscle compared to fat, and such. I've known a number of FTers in the 300-350 range who fly in single coach seats.

chrissxb

just wow.

pinniped

I don't disagree...I think I focused on this particular woman and the "snugly in one seat" part of your earlier post. She flew over in 2 seats and could have flown back in 2 had she been healthy enough to fly.

I also know some taller, bigger guys who are probably in the 300-350 range who can fly Y (one seat) if they have to. One of my friends in this range actually bought annual E+ access on UA as soon as it became available and then shifted all his travel to them. (Eventually he became 1K and didn't need to re-buy the access.) Buying extra pitch isn't as good as buying extra width, but it does help some - especially if you're in an aisle seat.

RTW1

The key being that they can move themselves to the seat and not have to be carried by a fire crew....

N830MH

Yes, unfortunately, there is nothing can be done for her. They won't allow her to get inside the aircraft, and they do not have extension the seatbelt.

CDTraveler

You're confusing "won't allow" with "not physically possible" and the seatbelt extenders had nothing to do with the fire crew not being able to get her into the aircraft.

adamak

But how can the agents even get her to her seats? She can't walk. She's too big to go between the aisle.

Figgie

Different experiences means that we are going to have to agree to disagree. I've never felt at all insecure and never had anyone come even close to dropping me. The places that we love to travel are relatively inaccessible (compared to USA accessibility standards), so I'm used to being carried up and down multiple steps in my wheelchair or even plain old wooden chairs.

Eventually, my spouse will not be able to assist me and I want to get in every bit of of traveling that I can while we are both able to manage together.

ttjoseph

She apparently died two days after LH denied her boarding. Someone that sick at baseline (diabetes leading to amputation and end-stage renal disease, with a component of morbid obesity) should not have elected to travel somewhere that - their lawyer now implies - does not have adequate medical care for her conditions.

It's entirely possible she took on significant water volume as her kidneys got acutely worse, making it more difficult to accommodate her on the return trip than it was on the outbound. And she certainly should have gone to a doctor as her condition deteriorated rather than traveling to various airports. Why they feel the airlines are at fault for ultimately refusing to unsafely transport a passenger despite multiple efforts is beyond me.

Based on the information available to the public, this is a intuitively nonsensical lawsuit. And a very sad case indeed.

celle

This is irrelevant to the thread's main topic, but I thought you might be interested to hear that at my regional airport they use a specially adapted fork lift for passengers in wheelchairs. The fork lift has a platform fitted and the wheelchair goes onto this platform.

My son was boarded like this after he had a leg amputation.

Passmethesickbag

Based on the state of her kidneys, I'm afraid she would have been unlikely to require a bathroom visit.

Delta Dude

As a person who lived in Prague for many many years, I can tell you that the level of health care there is as good as anywhere else in Europe, if not better. Take the Institute of Clinical and Experimental Medicine as an example, that does really groundbreaking stuff and has one of the best hospitals in this part of the world.

What I'm trying to say is that even after they've driven to Prague, the lady could have gotten top class health care and could have been saved. It was solely her choice not to accept this and insist on going back to the US, until she eventually died of kidney failure.

Her stupidity completely. And I'd say that the husband is obviously trying to take advantage of an unfortunate event.