An 85-year-old American cardiologist died after allegedly choking on a meal served on a Qatar Airways flight, with his family claiming he was denied the vegetarian food he had pre-booked.
According to a wrongful death lawsuit filed in California and obtained by The Independent, Dr. Asoka Jayaweera — a Southern California-based physician and lifelong vegetarian — was travelling from Los Angeles to Colombo, Sri Lanka, via Doha on June 23, 2023, when the tragedy occurred.
About two-and-a-half hours into the over 15-hour flight, meal service began. The complaint states that when Dr. Jayaweera requested his vegetarian meal, a flight attendant told him none were available and suggested he “eat around” the meat in a regular meal instead.
While attempting to follow the advice, Dr. Jayaweera reportedly began choking. Cabin crew members tried to assist and contacted MedAire, a Phoenix-based medical service that guides airline staff through in-flight emergencies. His oxygen saturation level later dropped to 69 percent, the lawsuit claims.
Although the flight was allegedly passing over Wisconsin at the time, the crew informed Jayaweera’s travel companion that an emergency landing was not possible because the aircraft was “already over the Arctic Circle and about to cross the Arctic Ocean.”
However, Dr. Jayaweera’s son, Surya, disputes that explanation, claiming the plane was still flying over the US Midwest when the emergency occurred.
When the flight eventually landed in Edinburgh, Scotland, Jayaweera had been unconscious for more than three hours. He was taken to a hospital, where he died on August 3, 2023, from aspiration pneumonia — a condition caused by inhaling food or liquid into the lungs.
The lawsuit was first filed on July 31 in a California state court and later transferred to the US District Court for the Central District of California on October 3.
Qatar Airways has not yet issued a public statement regarding the allegations.
