Everybody who travels has a health problem–it may just not show itself. My husband has heart disease and has, as it were, been cleared for takeoff. But what the story was originally was the bone-headed flight attendent refusing the oxygen (I would have had him in a headlock) and then the rest of the oxygen was out. If this pans out, American Airlines should pay through the freakin’ nose. Why blame the victim here when there should have been help available? More than dying of heart disease she died of stupid by a flight attendent.

It is not the responsibililty of the airlines to administer medical care. CPR rarely is successful even for those in the best of health. If you have a health condition, take your medication and follow your doctor’s orders.

Has anybody seen how large this woman was? You can’t totally neglect your health for years and then blame someone else when you die.

Had see been 50kg lighter and done some walking from time to time she wouldn’t have set herself up for this situation.

I think the media jumped the gun on this story. After all, blaming the flight attendant and the airline makes for a better story, doesn’t it? It certainly got a lot of media attention — especially with dramatic quotations and last words.

Could this death have been prevented? That’s up to the investigators to decide, and not the media.

Darren, you raise an interesting question. Could airlines stop someone from flying due to health concerns? Should airlines be aware of any serious health conditions? If they know, what are they legally responsible for doing about it?

It’s dangerous territory. I can see someone suing an airline for not providing a doctor or nurse when they knew ahead of time that a patient had a condition that might require emergency care.

Perhaps the results of the investigation into Desir’s death will yield some recommendations.

A commenter on our site claimed to be a physician and said
“Put it this way: would the outcome have been any different if she were at home and had to call 911? No. She likely doesn’t have oxygen at home, else she would have brought it with her, and there is almost no likelihood she has an automatic defibrillator at home.”

but I’m not sure if I agree - on an aircraft there IS supposed to be oxygen on board, and oxygen and defibrillation can do a lot to stabilize patients (much more than CPR).

I think the real issue is if there is evidence of the oxygen being withheld - that would be a legal nightmare!

Would she have been in a better situation if she were in a shopping mall with no medical help? Would an ambulance have been able to save her?

Does that matter?

If the oxygen tanks were empty nothing else matters (except the attendant who refused them!).The airline has a responsibility to its passengers and if they are found to be negligent, they are to blame.

Hopefully an investigation will uncover the truth.
Julia

Darren, I’m not sure what the details of the AA flight were, or why they were on it, but I know that there are lots of people with heart conditions who fly. Usually with medical permission.

Sadly heart disease is fairly common. Even when people have medical conditions and forget to get medical advice before flying I think it is understandable - sometimes a once in a lifetime opportunity comes up tor a chance to see family that you haven’t seen for years. Weddings, Births, Deaths…the reasons are endless.

But sometimes people don’t think before doing something entirely unnecessary, and they end up dead. And then I wonder why on earth their family would showcase their relative’s idiocy with a lawsuit.

Who knows how this will turn out.

Health Problems can happent to everybody. Unfortunatly a Co Pilot on a GB airways plane from Gatwick to Cyprus was diverted to Turkey and the Co-Pilot died. I’m sure that his medical records would have had to have regular scrutiny.
Unfortunatly these things happen in the circle of life, no matter who you are.

The oxygen should work. That’s embarrassing for AA. But did it really contribute to this death? Investigation…

The last thing I want to do is sign any disclaimer prior to flying. The legal announcements are too extensive now (why are they still announcing that the flight is non-smoking anyway? It’s been a generation since you could smoke on a plane.)

Best way to avoid disclaimer nonsense (before or during the flight) is to not allow AA to be made a legal victim in this tragedy. Their stupidity or insensitivity is bad business and that flight attendant should be disciplined. But AA is not responsible for the passenger death.

Hopefully, sanity prevails.