Elderly Vegetarian Chokes to Death on Airline Meat After Being Told to “Eat Around It”

A California man who refused to eat meat his whole life tragically died after being served a non-vegetarian meal on a Qatar Airways flight — and told to “eat around it.”

According to a new wrongful-death lawsuit, 85-year-old retired cardiologist Dr. Asoka Jayaweera was flying from Los Angeles to Doha in August 2023 when the airline ran out of vegetarian meals. Flight attendants allegedly told the lifelong vegetarian he could simply “avoid the meat.”

Moments later, he began choking.

The complaint, filed by his son Surya Jayaweera, claims the flight crew brushed off his father’s distress and refused to divert the aircraft.

“They said we couldn’t land because we were over the Arctic,” the son told reporters. “But flight data showed we were flying over Wisconsin. They could have landed. They just didn’t.”

Dr. Jayaweera was given oxygen, but his son says his levels stayed “dangerously low” for the remaining eight hours of the flight. By the time the plane reached Edinburgh, he was unconscious. He died two days later from aspiration pneumonia — a lung infection caused by inhaling food.

While the case raises serious questions about Qatar Airways’ handling of medical emergencies, some critics say it also highlights a bit of irony.

“Honestly, if you’re eighty-five and still turning your nose up at a steak, that’s on you,” joked conservative commentator Blake Turner on his podcast Free Skies Radio. “Maybe the universe was trying to tell him something — eat the meat.”

Others on social media echoed that sentiment. “He was told to eat around it, not inhale it,” one commenter posted on X (formerly Twitter). “This is why I stick with beef jerky on flights.”

Still, aviation experts warn the tragedy exposes deeper problems with international carriers. “Foreign airlines aren’t always equipped for American-style emergency procedures,” said retired FAA investigator Harold Blume. “When someone’s choking, you don’t wait eight hours to land.”

Under President Donald Trump’s 2025 aviation reforms, foreign carriers operating from U.S. airports face renewed scrutiny for passenger-safety failures.

“This is exactly the kind of situation we’re cracking down on,” a senior DOT official told Real America News. “If a U.S. citizen dies mid-flight because a crew won’t land, that’s unacceptable.”

The Jayaweera family is seeking damages of at least $128,821 plus legal fees, citing the Montreal Convention, which holds airlines strictly liable for injury or death on international routes.

Qatar Airways has declined to comment on the lawsuit.

“This was preventable,” Surya Jayaweera said. “My father spent his life helping others. When it was his turn to be helped, no one would lift a finger.”

Aviation attorney David Morris added, “It’s a cruel twist — a man devoted to saving lives loses his because someone couldn’t serve the right meal.”