Man Allegedly Suffered Stroke As Plane Landed. Flight Crew Accused Of Ignoring.
WEST PALM BEACH, FL (BocaNewsNow.com) (Copyright © 2025 MetroDesk Media, LLC) — A wrongful death lawsuit has been filed in Palm Beach County against JetBlue Airways and ABM Aviation following the tragic death of a passenger who allegedly suffered a massive stroke on a flight. The estate of John Allen Fletcher filed the complaint on January 5, 2026, seeking damages in excess of $50,000 for what they describe as gross negligence. The suit — obtained by BocaNewsNow.com and published below — claims that airline and airport staff failed to provide emergency medical care to Fletcher, instead treating him as an “inconvenient obstacle” to their operations.
The incident began on April 22, 2025, when Fletcher boarded JetBlue Flight 321 in Boston, bound for West Palm Beach. According to court documents, Fletcher was in good health when he boarded and took his seat in the premium section. However, upon landing at Palm Beach International Airport, he reportedly suffered a major stroke and collapsed back into his seat. Despite being in a “Premium” seat in full view of the crew and displaying classic symptoms of a stroke—including garbled speech and an inability to stand—the lawsuit alleges that flight attendants and crew members ignored his distress.
Rather than calling 911 or alerting airport paramedics, the lawsuit claims JetBlue requested a non-emergency wheelchair attendant from ABM Aviation to simply “haul” Fletcher off the plane. The filing alleges that the wheelchair attendant loaded the slumped and clearly compromised Fletcher into a chair and dumped him in the baggage retrieval area. When Fletcher’s daughter finally located him abandoned in the baggage claim area, she claims the ABM employee refused her request to call 911, stating, “We’re not allowed to do that”. It was only after his daughter personally summoned emergency services that he was finally taken to Saint Mary’s Hospital.
Medical personnel eventually arrived more than an hour after the flight had landed. Fletcher remained in the hospital for 13 days before succumbing to the effects of the stroke on May 5, 2025. The lawsuit argues that JetBlue and ABM ignored established stroke recognition protocols, known as “BEFAST,” and exhibited a conscious disregard for Fletcher’s life.
The family seeks in excess $50,000 — the statutory minimum for filing in Palm Beach County Circuit Court. JetBlue has not responded to the suit as of Wednesday afternoon.
