American Airlines today disputed the account of a man who said his cousin died aboard a flight after she was twice refused oxygen by a flight attendant. He also claimed that medical devices, including two oxygen tanks, failed.Struggling to breathe, passenger Carine Desir, who had heart disease, asked for oxygen, but was initially denied, her cousin said yesterday. “Don't let me die,” the cousin, Antonio Oliver, recalled Desir, 44, saying after the attendant allegedly refused at first to administer the oxygen Friday.
He said the flight attendant finally relented but various medical devices on the plane did not work, including two oxygen tanks that were found to be empty and what may have been a defibrillator that seemed to malfunction.
American Airlines confirmed Desir's death and said medical professionals had tried to save the woman. Today, airline spokesman Charley Wilson 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. He said at least two were used on Desir. “American Airlines, after investigation, has determined that oxygen was administered on the aircraft, and it was working, and the defibrillator was applied as well,” he said.