Woman Dies On AA Flight After Being Refused Help, Then Given Empty Oxygen Tanks
A 44-year-old Brooklyn woman was returning from vacation in Haiti when she began to have trouble breathing. According to her cousin who was on the flight with her, she was refused help twice by the flight attendant, then she was brought two oxygen tanks with masks—but both were empty. Her cousin requested an emergency landing, but before they could touch down in Miami she was dead, so the plane continued to JFK. The airline isn't commenting on why the emergency tanks were empty in the first place. "After the flight attendant refused to administer oxygen to Ms. Desir, she became distressed, pleading, 'Don't let me die,' Mr. Oliver recalled."
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.Thus continues American Airlines' zero-tolerance rule to illness and health emergencies, and their devotion to creating unsafe environments for employees and passengers.Mr. Oliver said two doctors and two nurses who were aboard tried to administer oxygen from a second tank, which was also empty.
Sonja Whitemon, a spokeswoman for American Airlines, would not comment on Mr. Oliver's claims of faulty medical equipment aboard the plane.
Ms. Desir was placed on the floor and a nurse tried to resuscitate her, but to no avail, Mr. Oliver said. "I cannot believe what is happening on the plane," he said, sobbing. "She cannot get up, and nothing on the plane works."
(Thanks to everyone who sent this in!)
"Woman, 44, Dies on Plane With 2 Empty Oxygen Tanks " [New York Times]
(Airplane photo: Adrian Pingstone)
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Comments:
It was obviously her own fault for not bringing here own oxygen tank ;) It's sad but on a plane what can you really do?
how do they continue to fly from MIA-JFK, that's three more hours with a dead woman on the floor!
That's just tragic.
:/
Dude, rtfa.
Ms. Desir was pronounced dead by one of the doctors, Joel Shulkin, and the flight continued on to John F. Kennedy International Airport. Her body was moved to the floor of the first-class section and covered with a blanket, Mr. Oliver said.
The plane never landed in Florida. They just kept on trucking to JFK.
I would love to hear comments from the Doctors or Nurses rather then the friend, but there is no excuse to a plane to take off without minimal emergency equipment checked and functional. I understand the attendant not administering more then the most basic first aid, since they really arent trained to do so and it opens up huge liability, but still, oxygen should always be available on airlines, if just for panic attacks.
@mikeluisortega: You can have working emergency medical supplies. Or you can make an emergency landing (which does happen in medical emergencies.) That's what you can do.
Of course, there's no mention by the Consumerist about the woman's already poor health.
Airlines aren't under any obligation to have medical oxygen on board or to have trained medical personnel on board.
-The flight never went to Miami at all. She died 45 minutes out, so the jet continued to JFK.
How about you guys stop running (literally) with half-assed stories like this one and the "Apple Firebook" guy and actually help some people get relief from companies that seem intent on screwing them? I found this site far more helpful when it was...you know, helpful.
In the original version of this post I said her cousin was her friend, and that the plane landed in Miami, which it didn't. I've corrected the post, but this is just to clarify for future readers who are confused about the above comments.
They put her on the floor in first class? Well, there's a novel way to get an upgrade. Kinda permanent, though.
Meanwhile, "view of deceased passenger from coach" probably wasn't one of the perks those folks up front were expecting.
Even if the woman had poor health, functioning first aid equipment is something that (one would think) needs to be available and functional, especially since when one is on an airplane, the ability to get EMT/paramedics quickly is impossible.
Yes, people die on airplanes of heart attacks and other illnesses, but if this womans death could have been averted by AA having functioning equipment...AA's fault...
The airline industry is absolultely awful...
Alright guys, let's hear it....how was this her own fault? Don't let me down.
accourding to some reports the on-board defibrillator also malfunctioned.
@CaliforniaCajun: Regardless of her poor health, there is no reason that TWO of the oxygen tanks should have been inoperable. That's scary!
@CaliforniaCajun: Her heart condition may have contributed to the attack--her death was listed as being from "natural causes"--but it has no bearing on the two Consumerist-related issues at hand:
1. being allegedly refused help twice from the FA
2. the claim that two oxygen tanks—which are onboard for emergencies—were empty
@CaliforniaCajun: That's not the issue. The issue is that one, they had the tanks (so the whole, they arn't required part is moot) yet denied her the use twice, and two, the tanks were empty, which when they have already brought them out and to the attention of the passengers, is really fucked up.
But what I don't get is why they didn't break out the emergency air masks...
The way Flight Attendants act these days, her friends are all just lucky they weren't reported for helping cause an incident on the flight and arrested at the terminal.
Flight Attendants have been using 9/11 to get away with not doing their jobs for years now, preferring instead to threaten to report people. Why weren't the O2 tanks full? It's probably the job of the flight attendants to check them.
When I was a young boy, my mother and I were flying back from New Jersey to Pittsburgh after a visit to friends. Her asthma had been acting up, and she had a severe attack mid flight. The O2 tanks they had on board for emergencies were empty as well, and this was 20 years ago. It wasn't AA, it was another airline, but thank god the pilot was close to Allentown, and took the plane in for a near vertical landing. It doesn't surprise me it still happens...
It's amazing how she would have been better off yelling I have a bomb on the plane or hitting the flight attendant to get an emergency landing. This country makes me sick.
Just wondering ... if the tanks were operational and the flight attendants helped her would she have died anyway?
//Desir was put on the floor, and a nurse tried CPR, to no avail, Oliver said. A "box", possibly a defibrillator, also was applied but didn't function effectively, he said.//
defibrillator broke too, or "effectively". Granted, in this case, where her lungs seem to be what gave out, a defib would do 0 good, so it might not have been broke.
@ConRoo: Maybe. Probably, but then the story would be "Woman dies on airplane of natural causes" not "AA is useless and cost her her life."
@SexierThanJesus: I'll give it a shot...
1) If she knew she was in poor health, then she should have been traveling with a full medical team, complete with sterile surgical equipment, a portable MRI machine, and an Iron Lung. At the very least, she should have brought her own oxygen! PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY!
2) If she didn't know she was sick, then she obviously deserved to die. PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY!
3) Did she check the box when she was ordering the ticket to inform the airline that she was planning to stop breathing on her return flight? If not, they shouldn't be liable! PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY!
4) How do we know they oxygen tanks were really empty? Maybe they were full, but she's really an alien who requires helium gas. If so, she should have alerted the airline to her special needs. PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY!
And so on and so forth. Man, AA is about to get it's tuchas sued off...
@cde: A very valid question. Isn't there some way to activate the emergency oxygen system? Sure, it might be a tad annoying for everyone on the plane to have the silly mask drop in front of them, but I'm thinking people would rather save a life than complain.
@mercnet: Morbid. And, unfortunately, true.
Yah, there is going to be a big lawsuit here I imagine. Even if they arent required to keep oxygen tank on board, they had them and behaved in a pretty negligent manner which lead to her death.
When I was an EMT we'd have guys hitting the O2 to help them over a particularly bad hangover (no idea why it helped, but they seemed to think it did) and I knew welders who'd do the same thing...wonder if the FAs were doing the same thing.
@Cogito Ergo Bibo: As others have commented, the best way to get help is to refuse to comply with crewmember instructions, no matter how foolish or illogical, then you're a "threat" and they will land.
Possibly- she could have gone for a door, but you risk an Air Martial putting two slugs in your back.
If I was traveling by train, and I was experiencing some difficulty with my health. I wouldn't expect the personnel to have the necessary equipment to save my life. Surely, they would not be to blame for my demise.
@mercnet: Yeah, my thinking also that they manage to emergency land planes for violence or threats of same yet cannot land a plane for a medical emergency...
legotech- either people were taking oxygen bar hits or it was cost cutting by the airline...
If you have a medical condition, you are required to bring your own oxygen, which is expensive. The oxygen on board is supposed to be for unexpected emergencies, which isn't to say it was right that they were empty or that the woman was denied use, if that was the case.
@NameGoesHere: Thank you, the fact that they are on the plane means that they should work. Kind of like how fire extinguishers should always be functional. No point in having emergency stuff that doesn't work.
This should not have happened like this. If the oxygen tanks were full and functional, fine things happen. but this is terrible.
"Her body was moved to the floor of the first-class section and covered with a blanket, Mr. Oliver said."
The cabin service on an AA flight is so bad, passengers are dying to get bumped to first class.
@ARP: They will land... when they get a chance. Someone dying or someone with a bomb, the plan can't travel faster then its meant to travel, and if your over water.... haiti to ny, so over water and nowhere to land in less then an hour other then 45minutes to Miami.
@mercnet: it's not the country in this case, it's some asshole pilot and a major mistake in saftey/equipment checks.
@Amy Alkon: It was not expected for her to stop breathing because of lung issues. She had a heart Issue, so that would require a difib.
@DanglinModifiers: You wouldn't happen to work for Verizon Fios PR would you?
And to add insult to death, they proceeded to raise their fare prices. :P
@12-Inch Idongivafuck Sandwich: "but if this womans death could have been averted by AA having functioning equipment...AA's fault..."
Really? If AA had had emergency portable oxygen, or had provided that oxygen sooner, she could have lived? How do you know? You can say she might have had a chance...or that her chances would have been non-zero, but to say that she could have lived is probably best left to medical professionals.
As far as the emergency oxygen generators, (which are connected to the silly yelow masks) which are activated when cabin pressure falls, there's no switch in the cockpit to make these pop out. You have to decompress the airplane - which, I'm guessing, American wasn't up for doing, given the dozens or hundreds of perfectly healthy people on the airplane who would have been put at risk. Similarly, the captain and co-pilot's walk-around oxygen, which is independent of the cabin system, couldn't be used because the cockpit door may not be opened in flight.*
I understand the point (if not the sarcasm) of those who note that American should have a minimum, functioning set of emergency equipment on board, and I agree. The problem was that this woman was in very poor health - morbidly obese and with heart problems, traveling in a pressurized aluminum tube with no ready access to medical care.
What happened here was horrible, and AA needs to be held accountable for the lack of training and preparedness - but it's not their fault she died, and even with proper medical care, there's no guarantee she'd have lived. That's the problem I have with people who seem to take the stance that this is all American's fault.
--
*See what happens when you get a whole country so afraid of its own shadow that you can't even respond to emergencies properly?
@Falconfire: @cde:
Defibs are only good with irregular heatbeat. They don't start it again, contrary to every medical show on television and in movies.
Sure her heart would be racing, but if you were in panic suffocating, yours would be fast also.
While I get that the issue is why she was ignored by the FAs and there wasn't any oxygen in the tanks, something tells me the O2 wouldn't have done anything if 2 docs and 2 nurses couldn't keep her alive. O2 isn't some miracle cure for anything.
@ARP: "Possibly- she could have gone for a door"
Interlocks will prevent any door opening in flight or while above a certain speed on the ground. The only way out after the main cabin door is closed and cross-check is completed - at which point the airplane is "sterile". No reopening the door.
Just so you don't worry.
@econobiker: "manage to emergency land planes for violence or threats of same yet cannot land a plane for a medical emergency..."
There was this little problem of the airplane not being equipped to land on water. She died during the overwater portion of the flight. She was already dead and a couple of hundred people were all ready to go to New York - where this woman was going anyway. Why would you expect them to land in Miami after she died?
Seriously folks, American didn't not kill this woman, no matter how hard you want it to be. Yes, airline service is terrible. No, bad airline service didn't murder anyone.
Jeez.
@CaliforniaCajun: Could is essentially "yes/no", so you can say she could have lived. And given that medical professionals were trying to give her oxygen, it's a safe bet she could have lived.
About the o2 gens and the masks and switch (or lack thereof), I'm not saying your wrong, you might well be right, but not all planes are designed alike, some models/makes might have a switch to turn them on without a loss of pressure.
Also, it's not that AA is responsible for her death 100%, just look at it the other way. If they had the tanks, working, and did everything reasonable in their power to help (in this case, be attentive to the lady saying she can't breathe, and having working tanks of o2 when they have the tanks), it would be, "despite best efforts, woman dies of natural causes"
Simply tragic.
If airlines are not required to have this medical equipment on board, why was it there? All the defective equipment would just incite panic on-board.
I seriously doubt any of the flight staff have had proper training to use a defibrillator, thus it's a useless piece of equipment, or worse, a tool to quicken the lady's demise.
The fact they didn't divert, dead woman in first class and all, just puts the passengers more ill-at-ease.
Let's see how AA spins this, shall we? Their new ad campaign; American Airlines: People are dying to be flying with us.
@CaliforniaCajun: You're right, we don't know if she *could* have lived or not if she had been given oxygen. But we do know that she had absolutely no chance without it, and that's why AA is liable here.
If someone jumps off the roof of a 20-story, and you shoot him and kill him while he's in mid-air passing the 10th floor, you are guilty of murder. It's completely irrelevant that he would have died anyway upon landing. I'm not saying AA is guilty of murder -- it's merely negligence -- but the same principle applies here.
Wow... really bad reporting by Consumerist. The flight was never diverted to Miami, which is one of the complaints. Instead the flight went directly to JFK. Also, it wasn't her friend who was with her, it was her cousin.