Mother’s fury after son, 16, with life-threatening nut allergy was served cashews on flight home from New York after American Airlines staff failed to heed warnings
- American Airlines stewards handed Dan Richards yoghurt topping with cashews
- Mother Emma warned staff and was told there were no nuts in the in-flight meals
A teenager with a life-threatening nut allergy was served cashews on a trans-Atlantic flight after airline staff failed to take on board his mother’s warning.
Dan Richards, 16, was about to tuck into his breakfast while flying home from New York when stewards handed out a yoghurt topping containing cashews.
Schoolboy Dan is highly allergic to the nut and British Airways were warned of his condition when mother Emma made the booking.
Owing to a mix-up the family of five were seated in different rows on the overnight flight from JFK to Heathrow.
Luckily Emma’s partner Daniel Hunt, 49, was sitting at the back of the plane where the nuts were handed out first.
Dan Richards (second right, pictured with siblings Jack and Ruby, mother Emma and her partner Daniel Hunt) was served cashews on a trans-Atlantic flight despite warnings over his severe nut allergy
Dan (pictured with his family) was about to tuck into his breakfast while flying home from New York when stewards handed out a yoghurt topping containing cashews
He spotted the tiny plastic pouch contained cashews and dashed to the front of the plane to raise the alarm.
Emma, 49, said: ‘I snatched them away from Dan just in time. His allergy is life-threatening, just one nut could be enough.
‘I carry and EpiPen in case he goes into anaphylactic shock but I wouldn’t want my son to be in that situation at 36,000 ft.’
The family, including twins Ruby and Jack, spent £6,000 on the five-day trip to New York. The package holiday, with a hotel in Times Square, included economy flights with BA to New York and return flights with American Airlines.
NHS project manager Emma told BA, who they booked with, that Dan’s condition was life-threatening and there were no problems on the outbound flight.
She says she informed an American Airlines stewardess about Dan’s allergy when the family boarded the plane home and was told there were no nuts in the in-flight meals.
But cashew nuts were handed out in a plastic wrapper along with grain-free granola and chewy coconut, two hours before they were due to land at Heathrow at the end of their holiday just before last Christmas.
Emma said: ‘I was sitting in the row in front of Dan and managed to reach the package before he opened it.
‘But other passengers sitting around him were eating their nuts on top of the yoghurt.
‘If I hadn’t acted quickly he could have died.
‘We don’t know if Dan is at risk from airborne particles of cashew and pistachio nuts so I had to watch him for the rest of the flight.
‘I had some wet wipes with me and gave his seat and tray a good going over. Fortunately he was OK.’
Mother Emma (pictured) says she informed an American Airlines stewardess about Dan’s allergy when the family boarded the plane home and was told there were no nuts in the in-flight meals
But cashew nuts were handed out in a plastic wrapper along with grain-free granola and chewy coconut, two hours before they were due to land at Heathrow at the end of their holiday just before last Christmas (Dan pictured with mother Emma and siblings Jack and Ruby)
Emma, from Llanishen, Cardiff, has complained multiple times but has yet to receive a proper apology.
American Airlines said sorry after the five members of the family had to sit separately in rows 36, 37, 42 and 43.
Emma said: ‘I have a chain of emails – British airways blame American Airlines and American Airlines blame British Airways.
‘I’m being bounced from one to the other and no one is accepting responsibility.’
Emma is campaigning for all airlines to ban nuts on flights and says the family have not encountered any problems while flying with Tui and EasyJet.
She added: ‘I don’t get what it is about airlines giving passengers nuts. Surely people are prepared to go without a few nuts if it saves someone from being seriously ill mid-flight?’
British Airways told MailOnline that it was the responsibility of the carrier airline – American Airlines. A spokesman said: ‘We can’t investigate something that happened on a flight that wasn’t one of ours. American Airlines are the operating company.’
A spokesman for American Airlines said: ‘We’ve investigated this claim and unfortunately, don’t have a record of the full complaint, however our team is reaching out to the customer to understand what happened.
‘We always do our utmost to ensure the safety of our passengers and team, and our website provides clear guidance on food allergies, which we highly recommend all passengers read before their flight.’
Simone Miles, CEO of Allergy UK told MailOnline: ‘With 2 million people living in the UK with food allergies, there is an urgency for airlines to better understand and accommodate this community.
‘Those living with food allergies have a right to be able to live a full life without exclusion through fear of a society not taking allergy seriously.
‘Allergy UK’s Patient Charter clearly calls for the right to travel with confidence. All airlines should have clear and comprehensive policies in place so those living with food allergies are accurately informed to make safe choices.
‘This is why we urge the travel industry to heed our calls to improve awareness and education of food allergy among all staff.’
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