![](https://heysocal.com/wp-content/themes/heymediadev/assets/img/logos/beacon_white.png)
![](https://heysocal.com/wp-content/themes/heymediadev/assets/img/logos/logo-white.png)
The widow and three children of a man who died about a month after his wheelchair fell off a ramp while he was being put on a Delta Air Lines jet bound from Los Angeles International Airport to Hawaii are suing the airliner for wrongful death and negligence.
Elva Lopez Navarro, widow of the late Ricardo Lopez Rangel, her son Jose Lopez and daughters Lidia Angelica Lopez and Elvia Lopez, brought the Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit on Thursday, seeking unspecified damages.
Los Angeles World Airports also is named as a defendant.
A Delta spokeswoman said the company has not been notified of the suit and had no comment.
The plaintiffs were scheduled to board a morning Delta flight on July 13, 2021, bound from Los Angeles to Oahu when airline personnel told Rangel that he would have to board a separate entrance to the aircraft because he was in a wheelchair, the suit states.
Elvia Lopez asked Delta workers if her mother could assist Rangel onto the jet, but they refused her request, the suit states.
The Delta employees put Rangel on a steep ramp to enter the aircraft, but his wheelchair fell backward and off the ramp, causing him to fall to the ground and be severely hurt with a head laceration, skull fracture and other injuries, the suit states.
Rangel’s health continued to decline and he died last Aug. 26, according to the suit.
The plaintiffs believe the ramp was at an unreasonably high incline amounting to an “unsafe, dangerous, condition” and that the workers who assisted him were negligently hired, trained and supervised, the suit states.
The plaintiffs have all suffered a loss of emotional and financial support due to Rangel’s death, according to the suit.
We are able to provide high-quality political journalism to you for free thanks to our advertisers. So that you can continue to enjoy HEYSOCAL's in-depth reporting, we ask that you please turn off your ad blocker and come on in, free of charge.
Subscribe to our newsletter for this giveaway and many more. Also, stay in the loop for SoCal news and updates.
Your subscription has been confirmed. You've been added to our list and will hear from us soon.
Your request has been confirmed! We will get in touch with you shortly.
This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.
Essential Cookies should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings.
If you disable this cookie, we will not be able to save your preferences. This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again.
This website uses Google Analytics to collect anonymous information such as the number of visitors to the site, and the most popular pages.
Keeping this cookie enabled helps us to improve our website.
Please enable Essential Cookies first so that we can save your preferences!
You can find more information about our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy