Woman Sues Airline Over 'Extreme Turbulence'

By Joy Jernigan, senior travel editor

A Texas woman claims a rough airline flight has left her emotionally traumatized, on medication and in therapy. KCBD's Alex Butler reports.

A Texas woman is suing Continental Airlines and three other carriers over mental trauma she said she experienced during turbulence on a flight.

Colleen O'Neal of Lubbock, Texas, was flying from College Station to Houston on Oct. 29, 2009, when the flight hit extreme turbulence just minutes after takeoff, according to the lawsuit filed Tuesday in Harris County district court. Weather reports at the time of departure showed a threat of "tornados, wind shear, and dangerously strong winds with rotating and intense thunderstorms."