Alaska Airlines Sued After Washington Grandmother's Deadly Fall

SPOKANE, WA -- A lawsuit was filed against Alaska Airlines this week months after a Spokane great grandmother fell off a Portland International Airport escalator, and later died. KOIN reported that the family of 74-year-old Bernice Kekona filed the lawsuit in Washington.

KOIN reported Kekona of Spokane "crashed down an escalator" while in a wheelchair.

"The then 74-year-old woman was heading back to Spokane after a month-long trip to Maui, a trip she makes once per year to visit her family and her former home. But instead of getting on a flight, she headed to a Portland trauma center for medical attention. Three months later, a day after she had her right leg amputated below the knee due to an infected wound she suffered in the fall at PDX, Bernice passed away," KOIN reported.

The news station said the lawsuit claims Alaska Airlines failed the family in providing "the gate-to-gate service that is available to people under the Air Carrier Access Act and that Bernice's family requested."

--Photo courtesy of Alaska Airlines