Man's family sues United Airlines, claims attendants' failure to properly respond to inflight medical emergency led to death

The family of a deceased man is suing United Airlines over claims his inflight emergency turned fatal due to its negligence.

Angelic Shakima Luckman, as special administrator of the Estate of Derek Donald Luckman, filed a lawsuit May 5 in the Cook County Circuit Court against United Airlines Inc.

According to the complaint, Derek was a passenger on United Airlines flight from Houston to Ontario, California on Sept. 10, when he suffered an inflight medical emergency.

Luckman claims United Airlines failed to land the flight at the nearest airport and properly train flight attendants to respond to emergencies and use medical kits. She alleges Derek suffered injuries that led to his death as a result of the airline's negligence.

Luckman is seeking damages in excess of the jurisdictional minimum, plus costs, and is being represented in the case by attorneys at Nolan Law Group.

Cook County Circuit Court Case No. 2014L004890.

This is a report on a civil lawsuit filed in the Cook County Circuit Court. The details in this report come from an original complaint filed by a plaintiff. Please note, a complaint represents an accusation by a private individual, not the government. It is not an indication of guilt, and it only represents one side of the story.