Article

2008-02-25 -Short Attention Span Theater-

UnAmerican Airlines looking down the barrel of a world-class lawsuit

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Posted by gorb 2008-02-25 01:57|| || Front Page|| [11128 views ] Top

#1 American Airlines: they're just dying to get in to first class!

Posted by gromky 2008-02-25 08:04|| 2008-02-25 08:04|| Front Page Top

#2 "I cannot believe what is happening on the plane," he said, sobbing. "She cannot get up, and nothing on the plane works."

Obviously he hasn't flown much lately.

Posted by Besoeker 2008-02-25 08:10|| 2008-02-25 08:10|| Front Page Top

#3 Desir, who had heart disease, died of natural causes, medical examiner's office spokeswoman Ellen Borakove said Sunday.

I'm sure Grayhound is better equipped. /sarcasm off

The airlines can't be tagged to cover all emergencies and with "Two doctors and two nurses were aboard" to administer far better than any flight attendant, someone is demanding a heck of a standard. Oxygen wasn't the problem - "a nurse tried CPR, to no avail". Her time was up.

Now someone is hoping they've hit the lotto.

Posted by Procopius2k 2008-02-25 08:38|| 2008-02-25 08:38|| Front Page Top

#4 Now someone is hoping they've hit the lotto.

And thanks to a lack of cabin inspections and empty oxygen bottles, they will certainly "hit the lotto" big time. Insurance coverage will protect the airlines from the law suite, but the FAA will hang it in their arss for the empty bottles. COST...? Passed alongs to the air traveling public of course.

Posted by Besoeker 2008-02-25 08:52|| 2008-02-25 08:52|| Front Page Top

#5 The cost has already been passed along to the traveling public in the form of substandard and non-functional equipment. This will remain the case so long as the traveling public prefers to pay less than to shoulder the costs of better regulation or of choosing a carrier with higher standards.

Posted by Excalibur 2008-02-25 09:54|| 2008-02-25 09:54|| Front Page Top

#6 There is no excuse for empty oxygen bottles. None. If it takes the FAA and the tort lawyers dropping the hammer on American Airlines, so be it. No excuse for this.

Posted by Steve White">Steve White 2008-02-25 09:57|| 2008-02-25 09:57|| Front Page Top

#7 The public, when buying a ticket, can't see whether the oxygen bottle is full or the flight attendant is trained in for medical emergencies. That is where regulation and enforcement comes in and government responsibility kicks in.

Posted by ed 2008-02-25 09:59|| 2008-02-25 09:59|| Front Page Top

#8 Well, I hate to take the part of the airlines on this, but people in severe medical circumstances should not be flying commercial airlines. This woman supposedly had her own oxygen, which didn't function. Was it leaking ? Pure oxygen emitted into a cabin could detonate the entire plane. She should been on a private flight or remained on the ground until her conditions improved. The fact that neither the airlines' own oxygen or defibrillator was functioning is pitiful, but not surprising. As costs tighten for the airline industry, they take many shortcuts. What I worry about when I step on is who has really inspected that plane for air worthiness. Most likely no one. I really worry now when I hear the turbines spin up, whether anyone has looked at these engines at the required intervals. It's going to get worse for all of us. Airplanes are not broken down busses. There's 35000 feet of difference.

Posted by Woozle Elmeter 2907 2008-02-25 10:54|| 2008-02-25 10:54|| Front Page Top

#9 Need more information on this. True, people with severe medical problems should not be flying on regular carriers, but nothing in the story indicates the passenger had a problem getting on board or eating a meal. I see many people walking around, doing business & leading what looks like a normal life wearing either O2 bottles or small O2 concentrators. Being dependent on small supplements of O2 nowadays is not a big deal. Have seen nothing in the stories about passenger having her own supply of O2 with her, but O2 concentrators are not a big risk for fire/explosion. The O2 level in an airliner's cabin normally drops with altitude, even with a pressurized cabin: most normal people can take this especially when they're sitting and inactive. If their internal blood O2 level were to be measured, it would be significantly lower when the liner is at 35,000 feet than at sea level, but normal people can tolerate this. However, everyone will get sick when their internal O2 level falls low enough for a long enough time. The exact O2 level and elapsed time varies, and even the healthy & fit can fall ill to this form of altitude sickness in flight. Trying to digest a meal puts a strain on the circulatory system by diverting blood to the GI tract, this can push a marginal person over the line into a circulatory crisis of some sort. Even apparently healthy people can become critically ill from the lower O2 levels in airliner cabins, and only O2 supplementation or a return to lower altitudes will help. This type of problem is (IMO) one reason airliners carry O2 tanks in the first place, development of this kind of symptomatic hypoxia isn't predictable. One of the big Denver health institutions used to have a special facility at Stapleton airport for just this eventuality, and several passengers would be treated there every year for this kind of problem. (No reason to think they aren't still doing this at DIA.) Nothing was said in the story about a change in altitude: the pilot could have increased in-cabin O2 levels simply by descending several thousand feet -- as obtuse as the flight crew appeared to be, this was most likely never even considered.
I agree with SteveW -- there is absolutely no excuse for the empty O2 bottles, or (if it happened) for an AED with discharged batteries.

Posted by Anguper Hupomosing9418 2008-02-25 11:28|| 2008-02-25 11:28|| Front Page Top

#10 I can't put my finger on it, but somehow my spider sense is tingling. Maybe I'm just becoming allergic to AP stories, but I'm not buying it - yet. In the meantime, feel free to vent your Web-based outrage until we actually have some confirming facts.

Posted by SteveS 2008-02-25 11:36|| 2008-02-25 11:36|| Front Page Top

#11 A deep dark corner of my mind is wondering if their is any money to be gained in a third world country by stealing pressurized oxygen bottles and replacing them with empty ones, possibly known leaky ones.

Posted by rjschwarz 2008-02-25 13:13|| 2008-02-25 13:13|| Front Page Top

#12 RJS may be onto something....please note they were coming from Haiti. Not that that excuses the crew's poor performance or the empty bottles. Something's amiss though.

Isn't JFK over 1000 miles north of Miami?

Heck, Atlanta's ALMOST 1000 miles north of Miami.

Posted by BA 2008-02-25 13:41|| 2008-02-25 13:41|| Front Page Top

#13 No excuse for continuing the flight. If indeed the O2 bottle(s) was / were empty and there are records that say otherwise, then somebody is in deep-doo-ddo. My Mom requires supplemental O2 and her Dr. advised her against a flight to Seattle from Michigan for a wedding; unless"... she wanted it to be her last hurrah..." So until we see additional info, the PAX may have brought it upon herself; or at least exacerbated her condition.
I don't see any excuse for the flight attendant's refusal for the O2 request either. That will be interesting.

Posted by USN, Ret. 2008-02-25 14:46|| 2008-02-25 14:46|| Front Page Top

#14 American Airlines Statement Regarding Death of Passenger

FORT WORTH, Texas, Feb. 25 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- American Airlines is very saddened over the death of passenger Carine Desir on Flight 896 from Haiti to New York's JFK Airport last Friday and extends its deepest sympathy to the grieving family.

We are investigating this incident, as we do with all serious medical situations on board our aircraft, but American Airlines can say oxygen was
administered and the Automatic External Defibrillator was applied.

Among the preflight duties of our highly trained Flight Attendants is a check of all emergency equipment on the aircraft. This includes checking
the oxygen bottles -- there were 12 in this particular aircraft. We stand behind the actions and training of our crew and the functionality of the onboard medical equipment. We are also grateful to medical volunteers on this flight who came to the aid of a fellow traveler during flight.

Posted by tu3031 2008-02-25 17:41|| 2008-02-25 17:41|| Front Page Top

#15 R. LEE ERMEY > J **** H**** C *****! Iff only there was a well-known Amer expression to match Ermey's rant.

Posted by JosephMendiola 2008-02-25 18:29|| 2008-02-25 18:29|| Front Page Top

#16 I think we are going to have to wait until the investigation is complete on this one. We have the word of Ms. Desir's brother and cousin that the oxygen bottles were empty and the defibrillator didn't work. How did they know for sure? Could it be the victim did not speak English and could not communicate that she could not breathe? There are many unanswered questions. They probably won't be answered until the inevitable lawsuit.

Posted by Rambler in California">Rambler in California 2008-02-25 18:48|| 2008-02-25 18:48|| Front Page Top

#17 coming from Haiti? I suspect she was already dead but reanimated as a zombie. It's all the rage down there. Zombie/lawsuit/insurance scam...trust me on this

Posted by Frank G">Frank G 2008-02-25 20:46|| 2008-02-25 20:46|| Front Page Top

23:56 Rambler in California
23:29 Redneck Jim
23:27 Big Phimble5120
23:24 JosephMendiola
23:22 Vowarroms
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22:49 SteveS
22:49 ed
22:46 ed
22:46 Clock Lumumba8109
22:35 Flusotle Lumplump2823
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22:02 JosephMendiola
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21:23 Abu do you love
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20:50 Frank G