Woman Dies On American Airlines Flight
Passenger On Flight With Empty Oxygen Tank

POSTED: 11:50 pm EST February 24, 2008
UPDATED: 11:29 am EST February 25, 2008


NEW YORK -- An American Airlines passenger died after a flight attendant told her he couldn't give her any oxygen and then tried to help her with faulty equipment, including an empty oxygen tank, a relative said.

The airline confirmed the flight death and said medical professionals had tried to save the passenger, Carine Desir, who was returning home to Brooklyn from Haiti.

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

Desir had complained of not feeling well and being very thirsty on the Friday flight from Port-au-Prince 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 Sunday in a telephone interview.

After the flight attendant refused to administer oxygen to Desir, she became distressed, pleading, "Don't let me die," Oliver recalled.

Other passengers aboard Flight 896 became agitated over the situation, he said, 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.

Two doctors and two nurses were aboard and tried to administer oxygen from a second tank, which also was empty, Oliver said.

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.

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

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 died, Oliver said. "Her last words were, 'I cannot breathe,"' he said.

Desir, 44, was pronounced dead by one of the doctors, Joel Shulkin, and the flight continued to Kennedy International Airport without stopping in Miami, with the woman's body moved to the floor of the first-class section and covered with a blanket, Oliver said.

American Airlines spokeswoman Sonja Whitemon wouldn't comment Sunday on Oliver's claims of faulty medical equipment. Shulkin, through his attorney, Justin Nadeau, declined to comment on the incident out of respect for Desir's family.

American Airlines, a unit of AMR Corp. and based in Fort Worth, Texas, is the largest domestic airline.

Graycap23 said:

I say massive lawsuit.

uPtoWnNY said:

Doesn't matter if they get sued. The government will just bail them out.

My mom was just telling me about this story

I've seen alot of blogs jumping to conclusions on this and most advocate suing the airline but before passing judgment consider a few things

1. There is no proof of faulty equipment, only the thoughts of a distraught relative. How is the cousin qualified to state a defibrillator does not work? Planes carry 10 oxygen tanks, what is the capacity? Were they depleted after using them for a few minutes?

2. Without an autopsy showing oxygen deprivation killed her, how can a failure to administer oxygen be blamed for her death?

3. The request for oxygen came from someone with no qualification to diagnose and prescribe a remedy for what was ailing them.

It is a tragic case, but I think people are too quick to judge exactly what happened.

Mars23 said:

Agree 100%

Mars23 said:

Perhaps since this lady had a heart condition, she knew oxygen would help, hence her asking for it?

I don't advocate suing anyone. It won't bring her back.

i breath with my heart

Graycap23 said:

It's a fucking horrible story, but we have a very one-sided argument here. That poor women though; not a nice way to go at all.

It could have been mental -- or even organ failure, and that the oxygen was working, but her body was still shutting down. Her lungs could have been working, but her diseased heart not pumping enough blood around her body.

horatio said:

Is that a new song?

Mars23 said:

Right, if she died of natural causes, oxygen wouldn't have saved her.

Well, I won't be flying American

Graycap23 said:

I saw that on the news here last night and I hope the family sues the piss out of AA. What if someone else was in the same boat, medically speaking? Who's inspecting these planes before they come off the ground? Even if she had a pre-existing medical condition, the fact that American Airlines or specificaly that flight wasn't up to date with their medical supplies is just outrageous. That's such a disgrace.

LiquidGold said:

I didn't know anybody still was

Mars23 said:

Don't they carry them for emergency situations so flight attendants can be mobile and attend to the needs of the passengers when there's not enough oxygen in the cabin ? I can imagine that a flight attendant has to follow rules on how and when to use them ... What if pressure had dropped in the cabin, 30 minutes after they depleted all oxygen tanks trying to save the woman. It would've put 100+ passengers in jeopardy using them for this case. As sad as it is ... it's about the numbers

horatio said:

I don't even wanna know what you think with

One4All4Ever said:

My understanding, and I am no expert, is that these are supplemental to the supply that is provided for the yellow masks in case of decompression.

Mars23 said:

From what i saw on the news last night when asked how did he know the equipment was faulty, he said becasuse the Doctor and Nurse who were trying to help informed the crew that the tanks were empty and the defibrillator was not working... granted he was distraught

Mars23 said:

correct ... there are also additional yellow masks every odd row so crew can move back and forth ... but the canisters (which are very small) are for emergency situations and as I said, he may have refused to use them because he was not in a position to make that call ... hence the call to the cockpit and the usage of them afterwards ... if they were empty, the FAA will be on their asses anyhow. That lady, as sad as it is, was in the wrong place at the wrong time ...

That is terrible

Now can you trust the airlines??

This is awful

Teacher said:

Yeah, I know right?. The last time I flew American was 12 years ago and it was great. They still offered meals back then, but after 09/11, I stayed away from United and American