The family of a disabled Wayne County man has sued Allegiant Airlines after he died following a boarding incident at Huntington Tri-State Airport.
Tony E. Adkins, as father of minor Kaden G. Adkins and administrator of the estate of Hunter E. Adkins, filed his complaint March 20 in Clark County District Court against Allegiant Travel Company, Allegiant Air LLC and several unnamed individuals and business entities.
Hunter Adkins was 24 years old at the time of his death on March 29, 2024, according to the complaint. He lived with muscular dystrophy, and he used a power wheelchair.
“We believe this case comes down to whether the airline upheld its responsibility to safely assist a passenger with known disabilities,” attorney James E. Murphy told The West Virginia Record. “The allegations point to gaps not only in execution, but in the training and oversight that should have prevented this from happening.”
According to the complaint, Tony, Hunter and Kaden Adkins were at Tri-State Airport on March 28, 2024, to take an Allegiant flight to Orlando Sanford International Airport to visit family in Florida.
Before boarding began, the captain of Flight 1258 began rushing the boarding process so “the plane could be on the runway and take off in 20 minutes,” the complaint states.
“The captain made his directive to take off in 20 minutes clear to the flight crew as well as the ground crew who were providing services such as passenger assistance and baggage handling,” the complaint states.
The complaint says Allegiant scheduled the plane and crew for another flight to depart as soon as passenger and baggage unloading was complete.
“This pattern occurred several times per day for defendant Allegiant’s planes and flight crews,” the lawsuit states. “The captain’s desire to be on the runway in 20 minutes was to keep the departure time for its subsequent flight leaving from Florida.
“If an aircraft arrives late, air traffic controllers must assign a new departure time. In that scenario, there would be additional delay for defendant Allegiant’s aircraft once in Florida. Flight crews and airlines, including defendant Allegiant, receive evaluation for their on-time performance, as it reflects its operational efficiency, consumer satisfaction and competitive advantage. …
“On-time performance is critical to defendant Allegiant, as it impacts everything from company strategy to airline rankings.”
The complaint says the flight’s lead flight attendant acknowledged how on-time performance “puts pressure” on the flight crew and ground crew “to meet the captain’s timeline.” The lead attendant also said “this pressure or stress causes mistakes.”
Because of the pressure, extra wheelchair assistants disbanded at the ramp to assist with loading luggage “to help rush the flight’s take off,” according to the complaint. It said only one wheelchair assistant, a member of the ground crew, remained to assist passengers with boarding.
The complaint also says the captain told that crew member “to hurry up the boarding of any wheelchair passengers.”
To get Hunter Adkins up the boarding ramp, he was required to be switched from his power wheelchair to a narrower aisle wheelchair. The lone wheelchair assistant helped with Hunter Adkins, according to the complaint, which says proper protocol requires two personnel to help with a disabled wheelchair-bound passenger.
But the wheelchair chosen by the assistant was not an aisle wheelchair, according to the complaint. It did not have safety straps to secure Hunter Adkins in place. Still, the assistant pushed Hunter Adkins up the ramp alone.
At the top of the ramp, the assistant tried to push Hunter Atkins across the transition plate from the ramp to the plane.
“In doing so, Hunter E. Adkins was thrown from the unsafe wheelchair and landed face first on the floor,” the complaint states. “Due to his disability, Hunter E. Adkins could not break his fall. The wheelchair assistant and the wheelchair landed on top of Hunter E. Adkins.”
The complaint says Hunter Adkins’ father and minor brother witnessed the incident, as did several crew members.
“No Flight 1258 crew member at the plane’s entrance intervened, tried to stop the wheelchair assistant or helped the wheelchair assistant with getting Hunter E. Adkins into the plane safely despite unsafe wheelchair use,” the complaint states. “Hunter E. Adkins ultimately required removal from the plane to receive medical care.”
He was taken to a local hospital where he died the next day, about 15 hours after the incident. His death certificate says he died of multiple blunt force injuries.
The estate accuses the defendants of wrongful death, negligent hiring, negligent training, negligent supervision, negligent retention and negligent infliction of emotional distress for the father and brother. The estate seeks general damages, special damages, punitive damages, court costs, attorney fees and other relief.
The plaintiffs are being represented by Murphy, Sean Claggett, David Snyder and Charles Cahillane of Claggett & Sykes in Las Vegas.
Clark County District Court case number A-26-942141-C
