The family of a 74-year-old woman who accidentally maneuvered her motorized scooter down an escalator at Portland International Airport and later died has filed a lawsuit against Alaska Airlines.
Bernice Kekona was traveling back from Maui to her home near Spokane on June 7 when a gate-to-gate assistance worker left her alone in a concourse of the Portland airport instead of helping her get to her connecting flight, according to the lawsuit filed in King County Superior Court in Seattle.
Kekona thought she was steering toward the elevator, but learned too late that it was the escalator, the suit states.
"She was 74 and a diabetic, and she got confused from time to time in settings that weren't familiar to her," said Troy Nelson, one of the Spokane attorneys representing Kekona's estate. "She was fine at the neighborhood grocery store, but at places like the Portland International Airport, she had a tendency to get confused."
Still strapped to her scooter, she tumbled down the escalator and waited more than a minute before bystanders were able to pull her scooter off her at the bottom, the suit says. Her scooter weighed several hundred pounds, the suit says.
She survived the initial fall, but her wounds eventually became infected, the suit says. Doctors had to amputate the lower part of her leg and she died the day after the operation in September, according to the suit.
In a written statement from Alaska Airlines, the company said Kekona declined help from a gate-to-gate escort worker who was employed through the subcontractor, Huntleigh USA Corp.
"We're heartbroken by this tragic and disturbing incident," the statement said. "… After landing in Portland, Ms. Kekona was assisted into her own motorized scooter by an airport consortium wheelchair service provider Huntleigh. Once in the concourse, she went off on her own."
But Nelson said Kekona told him and others after the fall that she didn't decline an escort.
One of Kekona's granddaughters had requested the assistance online when she booked the airline ticket for her grandmother, Nelson said. The granddaughter followed up with a call to Alaska Airlines to confirm the request went through, and so did two other relatives shortly before Kekona's return trip from Maui, he said.
Kekona grew up and lived almost her entire life in Maui, but moved to the Spokane area in 2012 to live with one of her children, according to the lawsuit. Kekona had eight children, 24 grandchildren and 31 great grandchildren, most living in Hawaii, the suit states.
She visited Maui once a year for about a month and had no trouble receiving gate-to-gate assistance on connecting flights on her other trips — including on the outbound segment of her latest trip to Maui, the suit states.
The lawsuit doesn't seek a specific dollar amount. The suit was filed in King County, Washington, because that's where Alaska Airlines is based.
The suit also lists Huntleigh USA. Representatives for the company didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.