Family of dead wheel-well stow-away to sue TSA

Published 20 January 2011

Delvonte Tisdale, 16, snuck into the wheel well of a U.S. Airways flight from Charlotte, North Carolina, to Boston; when the plane landed at Logan, his mutilated body fell onto the tarmac; law enforcement officials say they do not know how Tisdale was able to evade airport security; Tisdale’s family is moving to sue the TSA for negligence

The family of a teenager who fell out of the wheel wellp of an airplane landing at Logan Airport has taken a key step toward suing the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) over his death.

WBUR reports that the family of 16-year-old Delvonte Tisdale has hired a lawyer to look into a legal claim in relation to his bizarre death. Tisdale snuck into the wheel well of a U.S. Airways flight from Charlotte, North Carolina, to Boston. His mutilated body was found in Milton last November.

Personal injury lawyer Christopher Chestnut says the incident raises questions about national security.

“We don’t want this to happen to anyone else and we don’t want Americans to be harmed,” Chestnut said. “So that really is the focus of, one, preserving Delvonte’s legacy, but letting his legacy be one of, never again will this happen.

“The airport and the airline have a duty to protect the travelers,” he said. “TSA sets the guidelines and the airport and airline are supposed to follow them. Clearly they didn’t.”

Law enforcement officials say they do not know how Tisdale was able to evade airport security.