Background: Flyers Wings and Grill in Orlando, Florida, on Oct. 6, 2025 (Osborne, Francis & Pettis Law Firm/WESH/YouTube). Inset: Dajah Stover (WESH/YouTube).
A woman was eating at a Florida wing restaurant when suddenly the roof collapsed and an air conditioning unit fell on top of her head, she alleges in a lawsuit.
Dajah Stover contends in her 6-page lawsuit that Flyers Wings and Grill in Orlando knew about the deterioration of its ceiling for years and failed to act, leading to the collapse that she says could have been far more disastrous than it already was.
On Oct. 6, 2025, she was eating with her 1-year-old daughter at the central Florida establishment. It was about 3:30 p.m., according to a photo she posted on social media and then shared with area NBC affiliate WESH.
Suddenly, the roof caved in and the “ceiling and air conditioning unit collapsed and fell onto Stover”s head, causing significant injuries,” the complaint states. Her child was not hurt.
“It felt like an earthquake or a sinkhole or something was coming,” she told the local TV station. “Everything just started coming down on me. I just seen so much blood pouring from my head.”
Emergency responders came and saw the “deep cut” Stover had on her head and took her to the hospital to get staples put in. She claims in the lawsuit that she has “suffered pain and mental anguish” and “will continue permanently to suffer great pain” due to the restaurant’s “negligence and carelessness.”
According to the lawsuit, for roughly two years before that fateful October 2025 day, Flyers Wings and Grill knew it needed to repair or replace its ceiling.
On Oct. 30, 2023, Florida’s Department of Business and Professional Regulation (DBPR) “inspected Defendant’s premises and noted that the ceiling tiles were soiled with accumulated food debris, grease, dust or mold like substance throughout the establishment which is a violation of the US Food and Drug Administrations’ Food Code.” A photo of the inspection form, which was included in Stover’s complaint, also shows that the investigators found an “[a]ccumulation of black/green mold-like substance in the interior of the ice machine.”
About 10 months later, on Aug. 26, 2024, “a customer was injured when a piece of ceiling fell onto her head,” Stover’s complaint reads, noting that a bodily injury claim was “resolved” by the establishment before a lawsuit. Just about a week after this incident, the DBPR again inspected the premises and “issued another citation regarding ceiling tiles that were soiled with accumulated food debris, grease, dust or mold like substance.”
The following May, the restaurant was inspected again, with regulators finding “damaged and missing ceiling tiles.” The ice machine still allegedly had the accumulation of “black/green mold-like substance,” but it was “immediately cleaned.”
Then came the Oct. 6, 2025, incident involving Stover. DBPR cited the restaurant “with multiple violations of the US Food and Drug Administrations’ Food Code,” including “a repeat violation of a missing ceiling tile and multiple ceiling tiles and vents were soiled with accumulated food debris, grease, dust, or a mold-like substance.”
According to WESH, customers were making complaints about the establishment and demanding inspections all the way back in July 2018. The outlet said its reporter sought to speak with someone from the restaurant about Stover’s lawsuit, but to no avail. The restaurant’s ownership has not commented on the complaint.
Stover is seeking a jury trial and wants damages in excess of $50,000.
Above all, though, she is grateful her daughter was not hurt.
“That was like by the grace of God, you know, that she didn’t get hit,” Stover said.
