Three Different Carriers Said She Was 'Too Fat To Fly'

A woman described as "sickly and obese" has passed away in Hungary after she was refused transportation on three flights to New York because she was "too fat," according to her husband and the couple's attorney.

Vilma Soltesz, age 56, reportedly weighed 425 pounds and suffered from kidney disease and diabetes. She and her husband of 33 years, Janos Soltesz, were both natives of Hungary but lived in New York where he is a security guard for the Staten Island Ferry. The couple had spent several weeks at a vacation home they continued to maintain in Hungary, as they did nearly every year according to an exclusive report appearing in the New York Post.

They had flown to Hungary on Delta, and their travel agent had informed the airline of the woman's condition ... she required a wheel chair and had only one leg due to complications of the diabetes. The couple had purchased two seats for Vilma and one for Janos. But when they went to board the flight home in October, KLM said it did not have a seat belt extender that could accommodate her, and that the seat she had been assigned could not handle her weight. The woman had reportedly gained weight due to water retention while in Hungary.

A KLM spokeswoman said that "every effort" was made to accommodate the woman, but it was “not physically possible for her to board the aircraft," despite Janos' assertion that she was already seated when they were asked to deplane.

After a five-hour wait at the airport, they were instructed to drive five hours to Prague to board a Delta flight that could accommodate her as a disabled person, according to the couple’s attorney, Holly Ostrov Ronai.

But in Prague, Delta staff said the wheelchairs that they had available could not carry her weight, and they were also not able to put her on the sky-lift elevator to get her on the plane.

They returned to their vacation home, and booked another flight, this time on Lufthansa, through their travel agent. But when they went to board, even with the assistance of the local fire department, she was not able to take her assigned three seats. After 30 minutes, the captain of the flight ordered them to remove the woman from the airplane. A Lufthansa spokesperson said the flight had to depart so that the other passengers on board could make their connections. In that case, the mobility of the passenger was the issue, not the seat belt, spokesman Nils Haupt said.

On returning again to their vacation home, Vilma's condition worsened. Her attorney said she did not trust the hospitals in the former communist country, or doctors who were not familiar with her long medical history. She passed away at the vacation home, and was buried in Hungary.

Attorney Ronai is reportedly considering filing a multi-million dollar lawsuit against the airlines, charging them with violating laws that protect the disabled.

FMI: www.diabetes.org