A New York City mother filed a federal lawsuit against American Airlines over the 2022 death of her 14-year-old son. The suit alleges that the plane's onboard defibrillator did not function correctly and accuses the flight crew of being unprepared and not being properly trained to use the medical equipment.
Melissa Arzu and her son were on American Airlines flight 614 from Honduras to Miami after enjoying a family summer vacation. During the flight, her son suddenly experienced a medical emergency.
Her 14-year-old son, Kevin Greenidge, allegedly lost consciousness shortly after takeoff.
The lawsuit – filed in federal court in Fort Worth, Texas, where American Airlines is headquartered – alleged that the flight crew was "delayed in responding" to Greenidge's medical episode.
The lawsuit claims that crewmembers "eventually attempted to use" the plane's automated external defibrillator, but they were "either unable to properly operate the machine or the machine did not function properly."
The suit alleges that the crew was not properly trained on how to use the type of AED that was on the flight.
The flight made an emergency landing in Cancun, Mexico. Greenidge was rushed to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
The New York Post reported that Kevin had been diagnosed with asthma and type 2 diabetes prior to his death, and that his primary cause of death was listed as "myocardial infarction" — commonly known as a heart attack.
The lawsuit claims that Greenidge's chances of survival would have "vastly" increased if the flight had a functioning AED that the crew knew how to use.
"After Kevin died, I never heard from American Airlines," Arzu said. "It made me feel hopeless. I want answers from American Airlines. I want American Airlines to take full responsibility for Kevin’s death. I never want this to happen to a child or family again."
American Airlines told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram: "Our thoughts are with Mr. Greenridge’s loved ones. We are going to decline further comment given this matter involves pending litigation."
Hannah Crowe, the attorney representing Arzu, said, "The loss of a child is truly unimaginable, and the facts of this case are horrendous. Multiple eyewitnesses confirm that American Airlines flight personnel were slow to respond and not able to operate the AED machine, which appeared not to work."
Crowe alleged, "After Kevin died, the equipment went missing. Did someone at American intentionally destroy it? Is it defective, but back out in service? These are all really serious violations of the federal laws that are in place to protect passengers."
The lawsuit also claims that American Airlines failed to submit an advance payment of $113,100 for the sudden death of the teen, as per the company’s policy regarding the death of a passenger while on board.
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American Airlines sued after 14-year-old dies www.youtube.com
An Alaskan Airlines plane was forced to make an emergency landing after a section of the aircraft blew out mid-flight. Following the terrifying incident, Alaskan Airlines has taken the precautionary step of grounding its entire fleet of Boeing 737-9 Max aircraft.
Dramatic video and photos have emerged from Alaskan Airlines Flight 1282 – which was traveling from Portland International Airport to Ontario, California. The Boeing 737-9 Max was transporting six crew members and 171 passengers, and took off shortly before 5 p.m. on Friday.
The plane was airborne for about 20 minutes until "the crew reported a pressurization issue," according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
During the flight, a section of the plane's fuselage fell off – including the panel's window. Luckily, no passengers were sitting in the window seat next to the huge opening.
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The sudden damage to the airliner caused cell phones belonging to passengers to be sucked out of the gaping hole in the plane.
A child sitting relatively close to the damaged part of the airliner lost his shirt because of the vacuum of the damaged plane.
Video shows oxygen masks deployed throughout the plane.
A photo of the alarming occurrence was captured by passenger Kyle Rinker.
“It was really abrupt. Just got to altitude, and the window/wall just popped off and didn’t notice it until the oxygen masks came off,” Rinker told CNN.
Passenger Evan Smith told KPTV, "There was a really loud bang toward the rear of the plane, and a whoosh noise, and all of the masks dropped."
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Flight 1282 made an emergency landing at Portland International Airport at 5:27 p.m., according to FlightAware.
The Port of Portland Fire Department responded to the emergency landing and noted that one person received medical treatment but no serious injuries were reported.
Alaskan Airlines said in a statement, "The safety of our guests and employees is always our primary priority. So while this type of occurrence is rare, our flight crew was trained and prepared to safely manage the situation."
Alaskan Airlines grounded its entire fleet of Boeing 737-9 Max aircraft.
Alaskan Airlines CEO Ben Minicucci said of the incident:
At Alaska Airlines, safety is our foundational value and the most important thing we focus on every day. Following tonight’s event on Flight 1282, we have decided to take the precautionary step of temporarily grounding our fleet of 65 Boeing 737-9 aircraft. Each aircraft will be returned to service only after completion of full maintenance and safety inspections. We anticipate all inspections will be completed in the next few days. I am personally committed to doing everything we can to conduct this review in a timely and transparent way. We are working with Boeing and regulators to understand what occurred tonight, and will share updates as more information is available.
Boeing said in a statement, "We are aware of the incident involving Alaska Airlines Flight 1282. We are working to gather more information and are in contact with our airline customer."
The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board are launching investigations into the situation with the Boeing 737-9 Max aircraft.
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Parents have accused an American Airlines flight attendant of planting a hidden camera inside the plane's bathroom to record their teen daughter. The family has shared a photo of the hidden camera as purported evidence of the alleged crime.
The family was on American Airlines flight #1441 on Sept. 2, traveling from Charlotte, North Carolina, to Boston, Massachusetts.
Massachusetts State Police troopers and members of the FBI responded to a "potential criminal act" aboard a flight, according to WFXT. The Massachusetts State Police said the alleged criminal act happened mid-flight, therefore falling under the authority of federal law enforcement. An FBI spokesperson confirmed that federal agents investigated the situation but did not release any further details.
An American Airlines spokesperson previously said, "We take this matter very seriously and are fully cooperating with law enforcement in their investigation, as safety and security are our highest priorities."
WSOC-TV reported that the incident involved a "juvenile, a flight attendant, and a cell phone."
The unnamed father of the minor told Fox News this week that his daughter went to the coach bathroom on the plane, but a male flight attendant approached her and allegedly said, "You can use the bathroom up in first class, it’ll be quicker."
The flight attendant reportedly stopped the 14-year-old girl before she went into the bathroom and said, "Let me go in, I need to get in there and wash my hands. We're about to collect garbage."
The teen allegedly said that the man was in the bathroom for about a minute before exiting. He purportedly told the teenager that the bathroom seat was broken.
The juvenile purportedly entered the bathroom and saw that there was a handwritten sign that read: "SEAT BROKEN."
The minor allegedly used the bathroom. However, when she got up, she reportedly noticed an iPhone attached to the toilet seat that was mostly hidden behind the sign.
The teenager then took a photo of the hidden cell phone, which shows the light on the camera.
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The male flight attendant immediately went inside the lavatory after the teen exited, according to the girl.
The teenager reportedly told her mother about the hidden camera phone in the bathroom.
The mother went to the first-class bathroom and allegedly warned a female passenger, "Don't go in there. My daughter's just been in there, there's a camera in there."
The mother said she went inside the bathroom, but the cell phone was gone.
The father allegedly confronted the male flight attendant about the incident, and his face "went white" when he showed him the photo of the hidden cell phone.
The concerned parents reportedly informed other flight attendants, who then told the captain.
Authorities were at Boston Logan International Airport when the plane landed.
The family told Fox News that it was "very surprising" that they had "never heard a word" from American Airlines.
The father told the outlet, "One of the things you shouldn't have to worry about is that a member of the flight crew, who you're legally obligated to follow their instructions and who are trusted with your safety, that they're going to target one of your kids and obtain child pornography on a plane. I mean, it's just it blows your mind."
"I think as a teenage girl, she's embarrassed. I think it's, I mean, it's hard to imagine a more intimate violation of privacy than this," he continued. "And I mean, I think it's obvious what that setup was meant to film. And I think, it's just, it's disgusting."
No arrests have been made in relation to the incident.
American Airlines did not respond to a request for comment from the New York Post.
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An American Airlines pilot is receiving high praise after a passenger's video documenting his recent preflight scolding went viral.
While some regarded the indiscriminate reprimand as patronizing, others appear happy to see someone finally put his foot down regarding bad flying etiquette. One Harvard Business School fellow has even indicated the pilot demonstrated a much-needed style of leadership.
Passenger Anna Leah Maltezos' video of the pilot's speech, posted to Instagram on July 26, has been seen well over 5.2 million times and presently has nearly 400,000 likes.
In the video, the captain of the American Airlines Boeing 737 can be heard over the plane's intercom setting down law and custom so that there can be no mistaking what sort of behavior won't fly.
"Remember, the flight attendants are primarily here for your safety," he said. "After that, they're going to make your flight more enjoyable. They're going to take care of you guys, but you will listen to what they have to say because they represent my will in the cockpit ... and my will is what matters."
The captain then listed a few of his high-altitude commandments, including:
"I shouldn't have to say that — you people should treat people the way you want to be treated — but I have to say it in every single flight because people don't and they're selfish and rude," he continued. "We won't have it."
The American Airlines captain had a great deal more to get off his chest in the form of what he characterized as "a little bit of fatherhood."
"The social experiment of listening to videos on speaker mode and talking on a cell phone in speaker mode — that is over," he said. "Over and done in this country. Nobody wants to hear your video. I know you think it's super sweet. It probably is, but it's your business, right? So keep it to yourself."
Toward the end of his speech, the pilot played Solomon, making quick work of dividing arm rests among the passengers by noting that "middle seaters ... own both armrests."
One of the most-liked comments on the video was, "The people complaining about his speech are the people that need to hear it."
Another comment, which received over 41,000 likes, similarly suggested, "If you're offended by this speech, congrats, you're the problem."
Maltezos, the passenger who captured the speech on video, told People, "It did seem oddly quiet afterward though ... maybe everyone was just so awed by the gift of double armrests they were left speechless."
Bill George, an executive fellow at Harvard Business School, told CNBC, "I say bravo to the American Airlines pilot. He has every right to do that. He’s the captain of the flight, and he’s in charge of what happens. ... If something goes wrong, he has the obligation to go back to the nearest airport and land ... and no passenger likes that."
To George's point, a United Airlines flight recently had to turn around hours into its journey from San Francisco to Taiwan owing to a "disruptive passenger," reported USA Today.
Brawls and other disruptions are unfortunately not uncommon.
According to the Federal Aviation Administration, there there have been at 1,123 unruly passenger reports so far this year. In 2022, there were 2,455. The previous year was particularly bad, with nearly 6,000 reports of unruly passengers.
George said leaders like the pilot in the video have "the right to set some standards of behavior."
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\u201cFlight attendant: \u201cYou\u2019re yelling\u201d\nPassenger: \u201cSo is the baby!\u201d\nFlight attendant: \u201cWell you\u2019re a man\u201d\nPassenger: \u201cDid that mf pay extra to yell?\u201d \n\nLmfaooooo\n\nhttps://t.co/qDSFV89ay6\u201d— Akhil Vohra (@Akhil Vohra) 1681848643
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At least 36 people were injured during a Hawaiian Airlines flight when the commercial airliner encountered "severe turbulence."
On Sunday, Hawaiian Airlines Flight 35 was flying from Phoenix, Arizona, to Honolulu, Hawaii. At approximately 10:35 a.m., the airplane encountered extreme turbulence only 30 minutes before the plane was set to land in Honolulu.
Air passengers were thrown out of their seats without warning, according to flyer Kaylee Reyes. She said her mother had just sat down but hadn't had a chance to buckle her seatbelt. At the time of the high altitude incident, the "fasten seatbelt" alert was on.
“She flew up and hit the ceiling,” Reyes told Hawaii News Now.
Passenger Jazmin Bitanga said the Airbus 330 experienced two "intense" drops of altitude while the plane was flying at about 36,000 feet.
Bitanga said, "My life flashed before my eyes. I was scared."
One of the sudden descents was so strong that her boyfriend's water bottle flew into the ceiling and cracked it.
"I turned around and there was a couple of people bleeding and just bracing themselves," Bitanga recalled. "Just all around me, there were people crying."
Video of the Hawaiian Airlines plane shows damage to the overhead compartments, as many of the bins were deeply cracked.
\u201cCNN: At least 36 people on a Hawaiian Airlines flight injured, with 20 taken to emergency rooms, after their plane encountered \u201csevere turbulence\u201d on a flight from Phoenix to Honolulu.\u201d— shon gables (@shon gables) 1671415793
The alarming air incident caused alarm on the ground – where firefighters, EMS, and the state's Aircraft Rescue Firefighting Team responded to a possible "mass casualty emergency" at the Daniel K. Inouye International Airport. A triage was set up at Gate 10A of the airport before the plane landed.
Hawaiian Airlines Flight 35 "landed safely" in Honolulu.
The Airbus A330 was at total capacity – carrying 278 passengers, two pilots, and eight flight attendants. Three flight attendants were among the injured.
Of the 36 injured passengers, 20 were rushed to two local hospitals for emergency care. There were 11 passengers in serious condition and nine who were in stable condition. Among the injured transported to the hospital was a 14-month-old child.
Injuries included a serious head injury, lacerations, bruising and loss of consciousness, according to the Honolulu EMS.
During a press conference about the air travel incident, Honolulu Emergency Services Department Director Jim Ireland said one person was knocked unconscious because of the rough flight. Ireland added that approximately 10 passengers experienced nausea and vomiting.
Hawaiian Airlines said, "We are supporting all affected passengers & employees and are continuing to monitor the situation."
Jon Snook – Hawaiian Air executive vice president and chief operating officer – noted, "There was no warning of this particular patch of air."
Snook added, "Sometimes, these air pockets occur with no warning. It’s rare to have that level of extreme turbulence. It was a very extreme case of mid-air turbulence. We’re very thankful the extent of the injuries was not critical. It could have been worse."
National Weather Service meteorologist Genki Kino hypothesized, "We believe the flight may have gone through a thunderstorm, which may have caused the severe turbulence. During that time, there were scattered thunderstorms everywhere."
Hawaiian Airlines was forced to divert three other flights on Sunday due to a lack of visibility.
The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is investigating the incident.
36 injured after ‘rare’ pocket of severe turbulence hits Honolulu-bound plane shortly before land... www.youtube.com
Starting in 2020, airlines did two insanely stupid things: They forced a generation of their most experienced pilots into early retirement, then committed to new race-based hiring rules.
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