American Passenger Dies on Flight

[Soverytired]

American Airlines Passenger Dies on Flight

Although this is the regional forum, I thought this might be relevant.

Apparently an American Airlines passenger died after requesting Oxygen and both bottles on board turned out to be empty. And the defibrillator didn't work either.

Now there were two doctors aboard; I think the pilots did all they could be expected to do. However, it got me thinking about this: How much do you trust that your FA's are doing adequate preflight inspections of the safety equipment?

I have to admit, while on the regional airline circuit, I'd double check the O2 bottles when the FA's weren't looking. (Mesa had a high FA turnover rate, so new FA's with minimal training weren't uncommon.) More than a couple of times I found one empty or lower-than-dispatch limits.

Just food for thought.

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D8V136T00&show_article=1

(follow the link for a pretty good story about an in-flight emergency)

 

[XPOO]

I read this earlier and I truly can not believe that both O2 bottles were empty. That would be against FARs to continue flying.

 

[Oakum_Boy]

Unfortunately, Oxygen isnt' going to save a person whose heart is dying. I'd be very surprised if both O2 bottles were empty and the defibrilator didn't work all on a mainline airplane. Again, we all know these juicy media reports with quotes from family members' attorneys are always without spin, right?

 

[WSurf]

Isn't that part of the FA Cabin checks? To make sure there is O2 in the bottles.

 

[Draginass]

I'd wait to see what an investigation reveals as FACT and not perhaps some reckless remarks from a relative.

I got a real hard time believing that the oxygen bottles were empty. This looks like it could be another case of deliberate 1/4 truth salacious airline reporting.

That said, too many people these days are traveling sick, then blame everyone else when the can't receive hospital quality care in the middle of the ocean. Unfortunately, I think this trend is going to get worse as the baby boomers age and start using airliners as air ambulances.

The culture of personal non-responsibility and the culture of entitlement continues.

 

[wmuflyguy]

You'd figure an A300 or whatever it was on would have more than 2 02 bottles. I mean a 50 seat RJ has that many.

 

[Dubya]

Would a Captain please comment on the aA Captain's decision to continue to NY with a dead body stretched out in first class.

IMH(FO)O, a boneheaded call.

W

 

[wmuflyguy]

NEW YORK (AP) -- American Airlines insisted Monday it tried to help a passenger who died after complaining she couldn't breathe, and disputed the account of a relative who said that she was denied oxygen and that medical devices failed.

var CNN_ArticleChanger = new CNN_imageChanger('cnnImgChngr','/2008/US/02/25/flight.death.ap/imgChng/p1-0.init.exclude.html',1,1); //CNN.imageChanger.load('cnnImgChngr','imgChng/p1-0.exclude.html'); The airline said the oxygen tanks and a defibrillator were working and noted that several medical professionals on the flight, including a doctor, tried to save the passenger, Carine Desir, 44, who had heart disease.
"American Airlines, after investigation, has determined that oxygen was administered on the aircraft, and it was working, and the defibrillator was applied as well," airline spokesman Charley Wilson said.
Desir had complained of not feeling well and being thirsty on the Friday flight home from Port-au-Prince, Haiti, after she ate a meal, according to Antonio Oliver, a cousin who was traveling with her and her brother, Joel Desir. A flight attendant gave her water, he said.
A few minutes later, Desir said she was having "trouble breathing" and asked for oxygen, but a flight attendant twice refused her request, Oliver said.

Watch CNN's Elizabeth Cohen on what kind of medical care air travelers can expect »
"Don't let me die," he recalled her saying.
He said other passengers aboard Flight 896 became agitated over the situation, and the flight attendant, apparently after phone consultation with the cockpit, tried to administer oxygen from a portable tank and mask, but the tank was empty.
Oliver said two doctors and two nurses were aboard and tried to administer oxygen from a second tank, which also was empty. Desir was placed on the floor, and a nurse tried CPR, Oliver said. A defibrillator, which he called a "box," also was applied but didn't function effectively, he said.
Oliver said he then asked for the plane to "land right away so I can get her to a hospital," and the pilot agreed to divert to Miami, 45 minutes away. But during that time Desir collapsed and died, Oliver said.
"Her last words were, 'I cannot breathe,' " he said.
There were 12 oxygen tanks on the plane and the crew checked them before the flight took off to make sure they were working, Wilson said. He said at least two were used on Desir.
The Federal Aviation Administration requires commercial flights to carry no fewer than two oxygen dispensers. The main goal of the rule is to have oxygen available in the event of a rapid cabin decompression, but it can also be used for other emergencies. It is up to the airlines to maintain the canisters.
Wilson said Desir's cousin flagged down a flight attendant and said the woman had diabetes and needed oxygen.
"The flight attendant responded, 'OK, but we usually don't need to treat diabetes with oxygen, but let me check anyway and get back to you,' " Wilson said.
Wilson said the employee spoke with another flight attendant, and both went to Desir within one to three minutes.
"By that time the situation was worsening, and they immediately began administering oxygen," he said.
Wilson said the defibrillator was used but that the machine indicated Desir's heartbeat was too weak to activate the unit.
An automated external defibrillator delivers an electric shock to try to restore a normal heart rhythm if a particular type of irregular heart beat is detected. The machines cannot help in all cases.
Wilson said three flight attendants helped Desir, but "stepped back" after doctors and nurses on the flight began to help her.
"Our crew acted very admirably. They did what they were trained to do, and the equipment was working," he said.
Desir was pronounced dead by one of the doctors, Joel Shulkin, and the flight continued to John F. Kennedy International Airport, without stopping in Miami. The woman's body was moved to the floor of the first-class section and covered with a blanket, Oliver said.
Desir died of complications from heart disease and diabetes, said Ellen Borakove, a spokeswoman for the medical examiner's office.

Shulkin, through his attorney, Justin Nadeau, declined to comment on the incident.
FAA spokeswoman Alison Duquette said the agency was closely following the details of the incident.

 

[Raskal]

Would a Captain please comment on the aA Captain's decision to continue to NY with a dead body stretched out in first class.

IMH(FO)O, a boneheaded call.

W

Just out of curiosity, why do you think it was boneheaded? As a capt. I couldn't tell you what I would do since I only know a small percentage of what went on along with the circumstances, but I don't know that I would disagree with the crew in this case.

 

[WSurf]

From The Sunday Times

March 18, 2007


BA sat corpse in first class




Steven Swinford


A BRITISH Airways passenger travelling first class has described how he woke up on a long-haul flight to find that cabin crew had placed a corpse in his row.
The body of a woman in her seventies, who died after the plane left Delhi for Heathrow, was carried by cabin staff from economy to first class, where there was more space. Her body was propped up in a seat, using pillows.
The woman’s daughter accompanied the corpse, and spent the rest of the journey wailing in grief.
Paul Trinder, who awoke to see the body at the end of his row, last week described the journey as “deeply disturbing”, and complained that the airline dismissed his concerns by telling him to “get over it”.
“It was a complete mess � they seemed to have no proper plans in place to deal with the situation,” said Trinder, 54, a businessman from Brackley, Northamptonshire.
The woman died during a nine-hour flight on a Boeing 747. Trinder was catching up on sleep when he was woken by a commotion and opened his eyes to see staff manoeuvring the body into a seat.
“I didn’t have a clue what was going on. The stewards just plonked the body down without saying a thing. I remember looking at this frail, sparrow-like woman and thinking she was very ill,” said Trinder.
“She kept slipping under the seatbelt and moving about with the motion of the plane. When I asked what was going on I was shocked to hear she was dead.”
The woman’s daughter and son-in-law arrived soon after and began grieving. Trinder said: “It was terrifying. I put my earplugs in but couldn’t get away from the fact that there was a woman wailing at the top of her voice just yards away. It was a really intense, primal sound.
“I felt helpless. Grief is a very personal thing; it’s not as if there was anything I could do or say.”
Trinder, chief executive of Capital Safety, which makes products for the building industry, holds a BA gold card and travels more than 200,000 miles a year with the airline.
He became particularly concerned about the state of the body. “When you have a decaying body on a plane at room temperature for more than five hours there are significant health and safety risks,” he said.
After the plane landed, those in first class remained on board for an hour before police and a coroner gave the all-clear.
“The police even started interviewing me as a potential witness, although I had no idea what had happened to the woman. I just kept thinking to myself: ‘I’ve paid more than £3,000 for this’,” Trinder said.
When contacted by BA about the complaint, Trinder says he was told he would not be compensated and should “get over” the incident.
BA said the dead woman was taken into first class because the rest of the plane was full.
A spokesman said: “When a customer passes away on board it is always difficult and we apologise for any distress caused.”
He said there were about 10 deaths each year out of 36m passengers.
Other carriers use different procedures. Singapore Airlines has introduced “corpse cupboards” on its Airbus 340-500 aircraft. Cabin crews use the locker if there is no empty row of seats to place a corpse.

 

[Raskal]

*sigh*, like Draginass said, this will probably get to be more common as the population ages. Interesting that the guy on the BA flight didn't think the crew dealt with the situation well. Wonder what he thought was appropriate? Jettisoning the woman like they do in sci-fi movies?

 

[Dubya]

Just out of curiosity, why do you think it was boneheaded? As a capt. I couldn't tell you what I would do since I only know a small percentage of what went on along with the circumstances, but I don't know that I would disagree with the crew in this case.

As an FO, I would simply ask the capt. if he really thought it was appropriate to continue a flight under such circumstances. Halfway there...ok...just left...I don't know exactly where they were. IMHO I would not subject the other passengers to that. If there were an appropriate place to put the body...then away we go. If not, I think I land.

Do you think the body was secured for landing? It doesn't say it was in a seat.

W

 

[Bullitt]

You'd figure an A300 or whatever it was on would have more than 2 02 bottles. I mean a 50 seat RJ has that many.

Yeah, I asked my dad who flies for American about this. He said the A300 has I think 12 O2 bottles on board. He's not on the bus so someone please correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[wmuflyguy]

Other carriers use different procedures. Singapore Airlines has introduced “corpse cupboards” on its Airbus 340-500 aircraft. Cabin crews use the locker if there is no empty row of seats to place a corpse.

Wow...sounds like an interesting idea.

 

[Amish RakeFight]

You see, the media got it right......

...TWO O2 bottle weren't working. But the REST WERE!!!!!

It's a half truth to say that two bottles of O2 didn't work when the rest did.


-Just my speculation.

 

[Papa Woody]

I love it.....

CNN said "oxygen bottles are carried primarily in case of cabin depressurization, but can be used for other emergencies."

 

[Soverytired]

Well, nice the see "the Media" did it's normal bang-up job. There are 12 (TWELVE) O2 bottles on board. This would have taken any real report about 5 minutes to find out and deduce the attorney was telling half-truths, at best.

Just something to remember every time the press reports about ANYTHING aviation.

 

[moonship]

This is the typical media play looking for the worst case story and only listening to the first report (i.e. the distraut family). I have been a paramedic for 10 years before going into aviation and this was not an uncommon circumstance. You have to treat the family as a patient as well and explain to them what they are seeing. Defibrillators will only shock TWO heart rhythms in cardiac arrest so if the person does not present in one of those its doesn't shock and the family thinks you are not doing everything you can or "it broken" in this case. As for the oxygen I too have a hard time believing that it was not functioning who knows it could be "the bag not inflating although oxygen is flowing"

 

[FreightGod]

It's a half truth to say that two bottles of O2 didn't work when the rest did.

Rather a direct lie as all the bottles worked just fine..

Relatives trying to collect..?

 

[Draginass]

If the original report is to be believed, the lady was already gravely ill before boarding the airplane. People that have serious medical conditions SHOULD NOT be flying around in aluminum tubes far from competent medical care. I can appreciate the fact that if I were sick, I'd want to get as far away from a 10th world craphole like Haiti too. As chronically sick as this lady was there's no way she should be there in the first place.

This is a matter of personal responsibility and common consideration for others, which is sorely lacking in our society. Too many, especially old people, think the world owes them a high degree of special privilege, and have OTHER people pay for it in terms of money and inconvenience.

If you require assistance, bring an assistant. If you're seriously chronically ill, DON'T travel in aircraft.