US passenger sues Singapore Airlines over alleged allergy oversight

Dr Doreen Benary claims she suffered a severe allergic reaction during an in-flight meal despite having disclosed her shellfish allergy to cabin crew

Singapore Airlines is facing a lawsuit in the United States after a New York paediatrician claimed she suffered a severe allergic reaction mid-flight when she was served shrimp despite having warned cabin crew of her shellfish allergy.

The incident forced the aircraft to divert to Paris for emergency medical care.

In a complaint filed on Tuesday in the US District Court for the Eastern District of New York, Dr Doreen Benary alleged that her explicit allergy disclosure was overlooked during meal service on Singapore Airlines flight SQ026 from Frankfurt to New York on October 8.

Benary, 41, was flying business class and had informed the crew of her allergy to shrimp after boarding, according to the court filing. Nonetheless, she was allegedly served a dish containing the allergen and became ill shortly after eating it.

“Nearly immediately after ingesting a portion of said meal, Plaintiff detected the presence of shrimp and began to feel ill,” the complaint states. When she questioned the crew, a flight attendant “admitted that she had made an error and apologised”.

The flight was subsequently diverted to Paris, where Benary was taken by ambulance and treated at two different medical facilities.

Filed under the Montreal Convention – the international treaty that governs liability in international air travel – the lawsuit accuses Singapore Airlines of negligence, arguing the incident meets the legal threshold of an “accident”, defined as an “unexpected or unusual event or occurrence external to the passenger”.

The suit seeks unspecified compensation for physical and emotional harm, medical expenses, and what it describes as a loss of life enjoyment stemming from the episode.

Benary is represented by New York law firm Bohrer & Lukeman, which specialises in aviation injury litigation. The lawsuit indicates she is requesting a jury trial.

Her lawyer, Abram Bohrer, told The Independent that he could not comment on the case without her consent.

Singapore Airlines said in response to an inquiry from government-funded The Straits Times that it was “unable to comment on matters before the court”.

This is not the first time an in-flight allergic reaction has led to serious consequences. In 2024, British TV personality Jack Fowler suffered a severe nut allergy reaction aboard an Emirates flight despite alerting crew, and later reported a similar episode on a Qatar Airways flight.

Also last year, a family was removed from a SunExpress flight after staff declined to make a peanut allergy announcement for their child.

Courts have also weighed in on airline liability in such cases. A landmark ruling against Olympic Airways stemmed from a 1998 incident in which a passenger with a known sensitivity to second-hand smoke died after being denied a seat change away from a smoking section. The US Supreme Court ultimately found the airline liable, ruling the refusal constituted an “accident” under international aviation law – the same legal framework cited in Benary’s complaint.