67-year-old blames airline for permanent hearing loss
An American tourist was on her dream holiday down-under when a three-year-old boy on a flight from Alice Springs to Darwin screamed in her face. Jean Barnard, 67, says that her eardrum was ruptured resulting in loss
of hearing and it was the flight crew’s fault for not stopping the child. Barnard’s lawyer accused Qantas Airlines of “failure to take all the necessary precautions to prevent the accident.” Lawyers for Qantas argued that there was no way flight attendants could predict the child was about to scream and therefore no way for them to prevent the injury. The parties came to a confidential settlement this week.