i heard this on the news last night, laughed and thought "WHAT??? $10, 000 000 dollars??" but I didn't realize that it was months ago and the lady still hasn't been found. The radio news made it sound like a funny human interest story along the lines of 'a bit different to loosing your bags' sort of thing.

I still think that $10 000 000 is too high ... I an't say what would be a good figure but somewhat lower than that.

I agree with you, Sue, that they shouldn't have been traveling alone, a carer should have been with them the whole time.

I don't know about $10 million, but I do think the airline has a responsibility of some sort.

When I first heard of this, I didn't realize that the elderly man was confined to a wheelchair. His wife had been disoriented on a trip to the point where an escort was requested by an airline employee to assist them on the ground. I think the fact that there wasn't one there points to negligence on someone's part.

A dear old fella in a wheelchair can't be blamed if he "lost track" of his physically able, dementiaed wife! The airline let them board and took their fare!

Yes, there should be some sort of compensation for this. I hope she pops up alive and as well as can be expected sometime soon!

Something like this happened in a major downtown Vancouver hospital a few months ago. The old fella had Alzheimer's and was in the emergency for treatment..and then just wandered off of his own volition. They said a search was made immediately of the entire hospital complex and he wasn't found. He WAS FOUND, a few months later, in an service room or shaft of some sort, curled up in the fetal position, his jacket wrapped round him...dead. The strange thing was, it was the second time over the years that something like this had happened at the exact same hospital!

The family knew the woman had Alzheimers and that the man was confined to a wheelchair but 'allowed' them to fly all that way to visit them, you don't feel they have some responsibility here? If these were my parent either I would make arrangements to visit them rather than the other way about, or if this was not possible I would arrange for an escort for them, and not leave it to the airline - it sounds as if the woman was not fit to fly without a proper escort and you can't blame the airline for that. As for suing for $10 million, well we think differently about these things, suing doesn't come easily to us. From the report it sounds very much as if the poor woman is lying dead at the airport somewhere.

I was thinking about this a bit more today, while I was doing my grocery shopping! You know, the fact that the family members didn't make other arrangements, ie., for an escort or to visit the old folks at their home, is a sort of moral question, isn't it? ...and I think the "legal" part is more black and white, or cut and dried. It's not what's RIGHT...or what would be reasonably "expected" at all, or what you and I would do for our grannies, etc. It's the US court system, here! And I think there is enough evidence here for a suit???? I dunno...

Just the facts, ma'am!

Hmmm, well I am glad it didn't happen here as I cannot imagine they would have any case at all, we are expected to take steps to protect ourselves and that was taking quite a risk.

In defense of the couple, perhaps she had had a less advanced case of Alzheimers and they would never have expected her to do something like this. If the flight had aggravated her condition, it's quite possible she had never acted this way before, and that she'd been more or less in control of her faculties previously.

As lefois said, the airline let them board and took their fare. I also think that it's about time the airlines were socked for this, as they've really been playing fast and loose with the escorts they're supposed to provide. It's obscene. Unaccompanied minors (like 9 and 10 year olds flying) are supposed to be met at each gate and escorted to the next flight, like these people; in the last year, something like half a dozen of them have been "lost" in the U.S. as they've been put on the wrong plane, left at the airport, etc. (Luckily I don't think there's been a single case where the child wasn't soon found safe, but still!)

My late wheelchair-bound grandfather was once abandoned at an airport by the escort who was supposed to take him to the transfer point for the connecting flight; the escort ran with my grandfather so fast that my grandmother couldn't keep up. My dad mistakenly opted to keep her company, but by the time they reached the proper gate, my grandfather wasn't there. My father had to comb the airport and eventually found my granddad sitting all alone at the ticketing / check-in counter, past security, tears streaming down his face because he'd been abandoned and there was nothing he could do about it. No disciplinary action was taken (because my dad hadn't managed to get the "escort's" name and because the airline conveniently didn't keep records of who was assigned where).

This is a situation which cries out for punitive damages. An airline that cares more about the bottom line than about providing care for its passengers will only feel one thing: a major hit in the pocketbook. It isn't about compensating the man for his pain and suffering, it's about making sure the airline will never do it again (since you can't very well jail a corporation). $10m is cheap.

Hasn't it gone the way that when something happens we're all trying to blame someone and get money out of them? This case is obviously extreme and perhaps compensation is due but it annoys me when people sue for huge amounts over trivial things like the next door neighbours mutt getting in and causing your pedigree princess to have mongrel pups or something ... oh, the anguish must be worth hundreds of thousands. No wonder we have to pay large amounts for insurance policies.

It seems that accidents DON'T happen anymore ... there is always someone to blame.