Angry Passenger Lawsuit Dismissed

Big Island Now stock photo. June 2016

A federal judge in California this week dismissed a lawsuit brought by a California resident over a 2014 incident at the Honolulu International Airport

Justin Ngo was waiting in the Transportation Security Administration line at the Honolulu Airport while children behind him were playing and bumping into his luggage.

When Ngo asked a TSA manager to detain the parents of the children, the TSA manager declined and instead airport police officers interviewed Ngo for an hour before escorting him to his flight home to California.

Ngo then sued the federal government, the Honolulu Airport and State of Hawai‘i employees for harassment, negligence and emotional distress, among other claims.

In dismissing Ngo’s claims against Hawai‘i, the court stated that the “mere fact that Ngo was about to fly home to California” failed to establish the court’s jurisdiction over this matter.

“When standing in the TSA security line, it’s best to just keep calm,” Attorney General Doug Chin said.