Former Ramp Agent Sues Port Of Seattle & Alaska Airlines Over Injuries From Baggage Tug Crash

Tyler King, a former ramp agent who worked at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA), has sued both the Port of Seattle and hometown carrier Alaska Airlines after suffering brain and back injuries following a November 2023 tarmac incident where a baggage tug hit her. Three years later, King is still in pain.

King filed the negligence lawsuit against both the Port of Seattle and Alaska, noting that despite the injury occurring three years ago, she continues to wake up in pain every day, with nausea and head pain.

King Was Hit By A Baggage Tug On The Tarmac In 2023

While King was part of a team of ramp agents assisting an Alaska flight back out from gate N3 at Seattle in November 2023, a passing baggage tug struck King despite her standing in a location that was deemed to be safe. King's attorney, Ray Bishop from Bishop Legal, has claimed that the airport had failed to protect her.

King has noted that she had done everything to be healthy and strong for work, and despite following instructions, the airport and airline failed to ensure the safety of all of its team members. Simple Flying reached out to the Port of Seattle directly for comment; however, an airline spokesperson was not immediately available.

The Port of Seattle has released the following statement in relation to the lawsuit with King, as reported by news outlet King5:

"The Port of Seattle remains focused on the safety of all workers on the ramp of SEA Airport. The Port has Rules and Regulations for behavior on the ramp to avoid dangerous situations and incidents. The vast majority of ramp operations are done by airline and tenant service employees who are required to follow Port safety rules including attentiveness to driving without distraction and being aware of their surroundings.

Unfortunately, the video shows the McGee employee was not attentive, didn’t see their co-worker and left the prescribed traffic lane. All of this behavior violates the Port’s rules and regulations. As a result, they were cited in accordance with Port of Seattle Rules and Regulations, which also included a notice to the worker’s company manager."

King Now Suffers A Permanent Brain Injury

After being struck by the tug, King has been suffering a permanent traumatic brain injury and significant back pain from the incident. This year, King decided to break her silence regarding the incident and filed a lawsuit against both the Port of Seattle and Alaska Airlines.

Surveillance videos from the incident captured a coworker of McGee Air Services, which operated the baggage tugs as a subsidiary of Alaska Airlines. The driver of the tug plowed directly into King from behind, and a subsequent investigation by the Port of Seattle identified extreme negligence by the tug operator.

The tug operator was distracted and had taken an unauthorized shortcut across the tarmac and had veered out of the prescribed traffic lanes and, as a result, hit King. The driver has been cited for safety violations.

Alaska Airlines Lawsuit: Baggage Tug Incident Details

Alaska Airlines is the largest operator at Seattle, with data from The Frequent Flyer suggesting that between August 2025 and July 2026 the airline accounted for 50.9% of all seat capacity at the airport. In the same period, the airline transported 25.7 million passengers, double that of the closest competitor, Delta Air Lines at 24.5%. Full details of the top five operators at the airport can be viewed in the table below:

Alaska operates on all top ten domestic destinations from the airport, with leading destinations being Denver International Airport (DEN), Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX), and Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), which all recorded more than 900,000 annual seats.