A 60-year-old woman who says she was disfigured when a poisonous spider repeatedly bit her on an American Airlines flight is suing the carrier.

Ursula Riederer, of San Antonio, is seeking unspecified damages in a lawsuit filed earlier this month against American Airlines and its parent company, Fort Worth-based AMR Corp. The suit seeks damages for medical expenses, pain, suffering, physical impairment and lost wages.

American spokesman Tim Wagner said the company usually does not comment on pending litigation.

According to the lawsuit, Riederer was flying from Germany to Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport in September 2005 when she was bit by a brown recluse spider. Riederer was taken to a hospital upon landing and has undergone reconstructive surgery for the bites, said her attorney, Wayne Colodny.

"For this condition, she will need treatment for the rest of her life," Colodny said.

Colodny declined to say whether Riederer saw the spider, or whether doctors concluded that a spider caused her injuries.

The suit alleges that the airline knew about a spider "problem" but did not try to eliminate them or warn passengers.

Brown recluse spiders are found mostly in Midwestern states and southward to the Gulf of Mexico.

Some people remain unaffected by a bite from a brown recluse. Others experience a painful, sunken sore that heals slowly and may leave scarring.

"If you get bitten by one, they can create a lot of problems for you," said Roy Burton, an entomologist for the Texas Department of State Health Services.