A little girl's face was badly burned when the airbag attached to her plane seat exploded in her face during air flight.
Daisy James
The four-year-old girl, Daisy James, suffered devastating injuries
after the plane airbag exploded in her face on a flight to London.
Little Daisy went to fasten her seat-belt on the plane to Heathrow
Airport after getting on board at an airport near Washington DC, America.
But moments later, an airbag secured within the belt mistakenly
deployed, leaving her with shocking burns to her face, chest and thigh.
The youngster, who was traveling with her grandmother, was also
left unable to speak after her face swelled up to 'three times its
normal size'.
Now, Daisy, from Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, has received an
undisclosed five-figure settlement from Virgin Airlines following the
terrifying incident.
Today, the little girl's mother, Gillian James, 37, told how her
daughter flew home after suffering the injuries on the flight from
Dulles Airport.
When she arrived back in the UK hours later, Daisy was taken for
treatment, but she continued to struggle to eat and drink and suffered
terrible nightmares.
Angered by what had happened, the James family sought legal help -
and nearly four years on, they have been given the five-figure
settlement.
Virgin Airlines, who apologized to the family, admitted liability
for proven loss within the ambit of Article 17.1 of the Montreal
Convention 1999.
This makes the carrier liable if a passenger is injured in an
accident which happens on board the aircraft or in the course of
embarking or disembarking.
Mrs James, 37, said: "I couldn't believe it when I saw Daisy come in to the arrivals area at Heathrow. I'm still so angry at what happened."
Mrs James told how Daisy had boarded the Virgin Atlantic Airways
flight in May 2012 after visiting family in Washington DC during the
school holidays.
At the time, she had been accompanied by her grandmother Sally Dyer, 67,
"So that my husband, Nik, 42, and I, could go to work, Daisy's gran offered to take her to America," said Mrs James, from Leckhampton.
"While they were away they visited zoos, went to the beach and did girly things.
"They rang while they were away to talk about what they'd been
up to, and her gran helped put together a journal for her to remember
the trip, with leaflets from the places they'd visited and photos."
Daisy and her mum before the accident
But the holiday of a lifetime ended up being ruined after the now
eight-year-old was injured on the way home, sustaining burns and cuts to
her face, left arm, chest and thigh.
Days after the accident, Mrs James was advised to seek legal
help. Her family began working with Irwin Mitchell Solicitors, who
investigated what had happened on the plane.
Mrs James said: "We got legal help because we thought it was
important to find out what had happened and we didn't want this to
happen to any other families.
"I hope airlines and the manufacturer can prevent this from happening again."
Nicola Southwell, an expert aviation lawyer at Irwin Mitchell, who represented the James' family, said: "This
incident has had a huge impact on a very young child, not only
physically in terms of the injuries Daisy suffered, but also
psychologically, as it had an significant impact on Daisy's day-to-day
life.
"Daisy's trip to America with her grandmother was supposed to
be memorable for all the right reasons, but the family have been left
with terrible memories of the holiday.
"While safety measures are, of course, absolutely crucial on
flights, it is clear these airbags can cause serious injury if they
activate during normal use of the seat-belt.
"We are delighted to have secured a settlement for Daisy and
her family that will ensure she continues to get the help she needs to
overcome the psychological impact this incident had on her and enable
her to begin to put it behind her."
A Virgin spokeswoman said: "We have expressed our sincere
apologies to the family and while it doesn't lessen the impact of what
happened, we have reached a settlement to the family's satisfaction.
"We have investigated the incident thoroughly and can confirm that it was an extremely unusual and isolated incident."
