Tuesday, February 26, 2008

death on a plane

I read this story with a mixture of horror, sadness and, finally, anger. Imagine being an airline passenger with heart disease. Imagine experiencing a sudden inability to breathe, being initially refused oxygen and, when an attempt is finally made to give you oxygen... you discover the tank is empty. Not only that, but the spare tank is also empty. Imagine going into fibrillation, only to find out that the onboard defib kit isn't working.

Unfortunately, this story has no happy ending, and I suspect that, for the incompetents responsible for this state of affairs, the story is only beginning. Heads had better roll.


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2 comments:

Anonymous said...

This story seems too slanted and primed for a lawsuit for my taste. Horrible if true, but only the family said anything. Where are the witness statements?

I witnessed a death (drug mule's condoms burst) and a psychotic episode in which the passenger was given a shot of a sedative to calm this screamer down (I wanted a shot myself after this lady went beserk and scared have the passengers half to death). Both happened in the nineties, and I had to write statements afterwards for the airport police (one JFK, one LAX). Nothing from either situation made the papers though.

Also, with my cynical nature and the fact that this was a death from natural causes (plus, I'm watching "Breaking Bad" about what a dying person would do for money to care for their family), I might think that if I was days from death and a big strain on my heart would do it that this would be a great way to make some easy money, especially if I come from a poor country.

If I'm wrong, throw the book at AMR, but until all the facts are known (and the cell phone videos verify it), I won't believe everything the media prints. I've been in South Korea too long to fall for that trick.

Anonymous said...

Here's a better researched story as the lawyers clear their clients to make statements to the press including the doctor who pronounced her dead after using a defibrillator that did work.

( http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23327116/?GT1=10856 )

Looks like it may be about money after all, but I'll wait until we get further proof and more first-hand accounts.

It's been over three months since the tragic accident in front of my hagwon that claimed the life of a student in which the police, and judge, placed the blame on the student (the driver spent two months in jail before being released by the judge which really upset the family), so the family returned again week and basically held us hostage for the fifth or sixth time (yelling and cussing at students and teachers) in their crude attempts at a shakedown. The kids and teachers are terrified over what these grieving relatives might actually do over both their grief and desire for money. I haven't had a good night's sleep since the accident, and I will be leaving at the end of my contract as I am not protected under the law in South Korea in case things get out of hand during one of their disrupting visits. If they were to hit any child or teacher, other than the beating they continue to give to the owner, I would not be able to restrain myself.

The family wants our hagwon to either pay them off or go out of business, and my boss is in a no-win scenario with this loss of face nonsense. We lose kids because of the scary situations that arise every time the family comes by, but he is afraid police involvement will show the parents more of a lack of stability within the school than these continuing shakedowns. I have 6 months left to go, but this crap is making me physically sick and difficult to teach as I am constantly looking out the door waiting for the next altercation.