Nigerian woman thrown off plane after white man said she ‘smelled’

A WOMAN is suing United Airlines after she was thrown off a plane because a passenger complained she smelled bad.

A NIGERIAN woman is suing United Airlines after she was thrown off a flight because a white man complained about her body odour.

Queen Obioma has filed a suit over the incident which happened in 2016 when she was boarding a San Francisco-bound flight with her two children in Houston.

The mother and children had flown from the Nigerian capital of Lagos and were on the second leg of their journey to Ontario in Canada.

Ms Obioma alleged that the male passenger had taken a seat in business class which had been originally assigned to her.

When he refused to give up his seat, Ms Obioma was asked to take another seat.

She then went to the plane bathroom before the flight was due to take off, but the male passenger blocked her return to her seat, naija.ng reported.

Nigerian woman Queen Obioma is suing United after she was thrown off the flight in 2016 with her children. Picture: Justin Sullivan.

Ms Obioma claimed she said “excuse me” three times, but was obliged to squeeze past the man when he still refused to let her through.

She said that a crew member then asked her to leave the plane and that the pilot had

specifically asked that she be removed from the plane because the male passenger complained that he could not fly with her because of her pungent smell.

According to the complaint filed by Obioma’s lawyer in Houston: “At that point Ms. Obioma was lost, confused and disoriented. Her mind went blank and she was utterly befuddled.”

A United Airlines plane taxis toward a runway at George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, Texas, where the alleged incident took place.

Ms Obioma explained that her children had important appointments related to school that they could not miss but she was refused re-entry into the plane.

“Ms. Obioma watched her children marched out of the aircraft like criminals, confused and perplexed ... She sobbed uncontrollably for a long time.”

It took five hours before Obioma and her children finally boarded another plane but the delay affected the scheduled appointments she had made and she incurred more expenses.

According to the lawsuit filed against the airline: “United Airlines discriminated against Obioma and her children during the incident on March 4, 2016 at George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston because they were black.”