Family Sues American Airlines For Refusing To Make Emergency Landing That Resulted In Death

The family of a South Carolina woman, Brittany Oswell, has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against American Airlines, claiming the company is responsible for her death following a medical emergency that occurred during a flight two years ago.In the lawsuit, relatives of  Oswell say the 25-year-old suffered an embolism while on an American flight from her honeymoon in Honolulu to Dallas. During the flight she became “dizzy and disoriented” before fainting.

Luckily a doctor onboard checked Oswell out, and she would regained consciousness but several hours later she allegedly went to the bathroom, where she was found, “having vomited and defecated on herself.”The flight was near Albuquerque, New Mexico, about two hours from landing in Dallas when the doctor told crew members that they needed to divert to the nearest airport so that she could get medical care but the flight crew stayed track. Oswell’s breathing and pulse stopped  and the doctor tried to resuscitate her, but the onboard defibrillator and blood pressure cuffs didn’t work. Crew members performed CPR until the flight landed in Dallas, and Oswell was rushed to a local hospital but would never regain consciousness.

Doctors determined she had suffered cardiac arrest, pulmonary embolism and respiratory failure. The family seeks unspecified damages from American Airlines.