American Airlines wrongful death lawsuit: Could Brittany Oswell’s death onboard an American Airlines flight have been averted had the pilot agreed to doctor’s pleas to divert?
A newlywed nurse died after having an embolism mid flight on an American Airlines flight despite an on board doctor’s pleas for the pilot to divert the flight claims a lawsuit.
Brittany Oswell along with her military husband Cory where on the flight making their way to South Carolina when she collapsed in the toilet on the flight from Hawaii to Texas in April 2016.
During the flight, the lawsuit, brought forward by the deceased woman’s husband and her parents told of Oswell passing out on the flight several times before her pulse stopped.
The family of Brittany Oswell has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against American Airlines. Learn more about the Lexington woman’s 2016 death at 4:30 p.m.
Livestream: https://t.co/DRZdpcdPTg@USCCarolinaNews pic.twitter.com/Q043oDaGg5— Kristen Schneider (@KrisSchneiderTV) April 26, 2018
RIP Brittany Starks-Oswell!! She was such a beautiful person, one of my favorite coworkers at Abercrombie ? pic.twitter.com/sZ8D7KLhjV
— hugo|CHASE (@CHASEworthy_) April 21, 2016
Brittany Oswell death: Why did the pilot seek the advice of a ground medic and not that of the onboard doctor?
The wrongful death lawsuit filed against the airline on the second anniversary of Oswell’s death alleges Oswell’s death could have been prevented had she been offered the help she needed sooner.
Flight attendants and a doctor battled to save the 25-year-old’s life by giving her CPR while pleading with the captain to make an emergency landing.
However, the captain allegedly refused after getting advice from a on-call doctor on the ground. It wasn’t immediately clear why the pilot sought the advise of a medic not at the scene despite the protestations of the doctor immediately tending to Oswell.
When the plane eventually landed in Dallas, four hours after she first passed out, Brittany was rushed to hospital.
Three days later she was declared brain dead having suffered a pulmonary embolism and cardiac arrest, never regaining consciousness.
Her husband, who she was married to for less than a year, and parents Tina and Christopher are now suing the airline according to WSFA.
Keep flying, get to destination on time or pay heed to passenger’s well being?
The lawsuit accuses American Airlines of negligence for not diverting the plane, which they allege could have prevented Brittany’s death as she would have got the help she needed sooner.
The couple were travelling from Honolulu where Corey was stationed on active military duty at the time.
Around three hours into the flight Brittany became “dizzy, disorientated and started slurring her speech,’ noted the suit.
She fainted and when she regained consciousness a doctor, who happened to be on the same flight, said he thought she was having a panic attack.
However, later she went to the bathroom, vomited and defecated all over herself.
The doctor told flight attendants the captain needed to divert the plane, with cabin crew allegedly having to wake the pilot up to speak to him.
It is claimed the pilot said an on-call doctor on the ground told him to keep flying.
How far did American Airlines go to make sure their medical equipment worked properly?
Attempts were made to save Brittany by the doctor, including CPR and a defibrillator – but the lawsuit claims no shock came out of the pads. It remained unclear why the devices failed to operate and to what degree American Airlines maintained such devices in the event of an emergency.
From there, the suit told of the on board doctor giving the 25-year-old a shot of epinephrine to try and revive her but it failed to work.
Noted the lawsuit, ‘After Brittany’s pulse stopped, the doctor and the flight attendants placed the AED pads on Brittany’s chest and attempted to turn on the current,’
‘However… the AED reported that no shock was administered despite three attempts,’
‘The plaintiffs are informed and believe the doctor and the flight attendants then took turns administering CPR to Brittany.’
The planed landed at Dallas-Fort Worth airport approximately 90 minutes after the doctor’s plea to make an emergency landing and she was rushed to hospital.
She suffered a second embolism while in the hospital and on April 19 she died.
American Airlines said it was examining the complaint but would not yet respond to the allegations.
‘We take the safety of our passengers very seriously and we are looking into the details of the complaint,’ a spokesman told the dailymail.
@AmericanAir your pilot, medical equipment maintenance, and overseeing management are fucking bastards and should rot in hell for grossly neglectly killing Brittany Oswell! I hope you pay out your nose big time. I don’t know why you all aren’t rotting in jail for this now!
— derfrent (@derfrent1) April 27, 2018
@AmericanAir Help me understand how a pilot can divert a flight for an unruly passenger, but not for a medical emergency? Black people are accused of making everything about race,but what other cards can we play? Did Brittany Oswell have to die?My heart hurts
— Sandra I (@SandraIhim) April 27, 2018
And then there were these comments on the web that caught this author’s attention. See what you think?
‘Planes divert and land for ridiculous reasons, like passengers arguing, smelly feet person bothering someone else, etc. but for a life and death emergency the pilot refuses to divert?’
‘There needs to be an investigation into why the defibrillator and the blood pressure machine weren’t working. The life saving equipment should be checked regularly to make sure it is still in working order.’
‘Another instance of airlines valuing their checkbook over the wellbeing of their passengers….’
