Airline passenger dies after pleas for help are refused
The Associated Press
NEW YORK | An American Airlines passenger died after a flight attendant said he couldn?t give her oxygen and then tried to help her with faulty equipment, a relative says.
Carine Desir, who was returning home to Brooklyn, fell ill on a Friday flight from Haiti, according to Antonio Oliver, a cousin who was traveling with her and her brother, Joel Desir.
Desir asked for oxygen, but a flight attendant twice refused her request, Oliver said Sunday.
Other passengers aboard Flight 896 became agitated, 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. A nurse also tried CPR, to no avail, Oliver said.
The pilot diverted the flight to Miami, 45 minutes away. But during that time, Desir died, Oliver said.
American Airlines spokeswoman Sonja Whitemon wouldn?t comment Sunday on Oliver?s claims of faulty medical equipment.
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