The passenger had said she has PTSD after seeing the man walk into the plane’s engine to end his life.
SAN ANTONIO — A Federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed by a passenger who witnessed a San Antonio Airport worker ending his life in June of 2023.
Mackenzie Hill was a passenger seated at the window of the airplane that has just parked at the gate, when she witnessed the ground worker from Unifi Aviation, a contractor for Delta’s airport ground operation, sustain fatal injuries when he jumped into its engine. David Renner’s act was later ruled to be suicide after a thorough investigation.
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Witnessing the gruesome scene has caused Hill to suffer “nightmares and flashbacks of seeing bits of the body being ‘spit out’ as the jet engine pulverized the rest of the human remains,” her original complaint says.
Hill filed the suit “alleging causes of action against Unifi for gross negligence in hiring, supervision, and retention, as well as intentional infliction of emotional distress through a respondent superior theory of liability, and violation of the Texas Deceptive,” according to court papers.
“She feels like she will be forever traumatized as to by what she saw by this and being so close to it,” her attorney James Wood said.
The damages include intentional infliction of emotional distress. It also states Unifi is liable because of negligent hiring.
Hill alleges when she purchased a ticket from Delta to fly to San Antonio, “she became a “consumer” of Unifi’s services and that in purchasing her ticket, the money she spent benefitted the airline, the airport, and ground crew, including Unifi, and she relied upon all those businesses to ensure her safety,” according to court documents. She further “alleges that Unifi’s website advertises “a culture where safety is never compromised for any other business priority.'”
In the lawsuit, Hill was seeking more than $1 million in damages from the estate of Renner, who was killed in the incident, and Unifi Aviation.
The judge in this case ruled “there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.”