An 85-year-old man from California has died after choking on a Qatar Airways meal when his pre-ordered vegetarian option was reportedly unavailable during a long-haul flight.
According to The Standard, the passenger, identified as Asoka Jayaweera, was flying from Los Angeles to Doha on June 23, 2023, when flight attendants informed him that his vegetarian meal could not be provided. Instead, he was allegedly told to “eat around the meat” from the standard in-flight meal.
During the meal service, Jayaweera began choking and soon lost consciousness. His family claims the aircraft was flying over Wisconsin at the time of the incident, disputing Qatar Airways’ statement that the plane was over the Arctic Circle, making diversion impossible.
The flight eventually made an emergency landing in Scotland, but by then, Jayaweera had been unconscious for more than three hours. He was hospitalized and later died on August 3, 2023, from aspiration pneumonia—a lung infection caused by inhaling food or liquid.
Jayaweera’s family has since filed a lawsuit against Qatar Airways, seeking damages for negligence. The airline has yet to issue a public response regarding the allegations.
