In Yang v. Air China, Case No. 1:14-cv-06482 (N.D. Ill.
Sept. 27, 2017), Plaintiff Jiqin Yang sued Air China and Boeing for
the wrongful death of his mother, Fengyun Wu. Ms. Wu had
collapsed and died on the jet bridge during the disembarkation of
an Air China flight in Beijing, China. There were no
witnesses of Ms. Wu's collapse. A death certificate
issued for Ms. Wu concluded that Ms. Wu died of sudden death caused
by "pulmonary embolism with high probability not exclude
myocardial infarction." Plaintiff relied on the expert
testimony of a physician who opined that Ms. Wu died from a fall
caused by her slipping on the surface of the aircraft door sill
while stepping down onto the jet bridge. With respect to
Boeing, Plaintiff alleged that the aircraft door sill was defective
because of its alleged slippery condition. With respect to
Air China, Plaintiff alleged that Ms. Wu's death was caused by
a Montreal Convention Article 17 "accident" – an
"unexpected or
