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In what may have been the worst case of missing luggage ever, a US District Court judge has found American Airlines and British West Indies Airlines liable in the wrongful death of a 75-year-old passenger who was not allowed to bring her carry-on bag, filled with vital medications, on a connecting flight from New York to Guyana. The bag was lost when the victim arrived in Guyana.

Caroline Neischer of Inglewood, CA died nine days after the flight. Her bags, along with a special inhaler and asthma medication contained in the carry-on bag, showed up two days later, but she was then in an acute state of anxiety and suffered breathing problems. She died at a Guyana hospital a week after the bags were delivered.

Federal Judge Christina A. Snyder ruled that both airlines were liable, even though it was not determined which airlines’ personnel prevented Neischer from boarding without her carry-on, which was a regulation-sized bag.

"It should put all airlines on notice that medical equipment that is used in the active care of a passenger must be made sure to be at the right place at the right time," said Ned Good, past president of the Consumer Attorneys of California and an aviation litigator. "This is not like taking your bathing suit to Hawaii and they sent it to Alaska and you have to buy a new suit."

According to court testimony, Neischer (who had 40 grandchildren) flew to her native Guyana to attend a grandson’s wedding. On similar previous trips, she carried her same bag filled with medication.

There was no immediate action from the airline attorneys following the ruling, nor was it revealed in court why any airline employee would prevent a passenger from bringing aboard vital medication in a personal container.