From the Cockpit: American Airlines Reveals the Truth Behind Recent Issues

From the Cockpit: American Airlines Reveals the Truth Behind Recent IssuesA 62-year-old man in the throes of a life-threatening medical emergency died after an American Airlines flight crew failed to call for help until after the plane landed, taxied to the gate and all other passengers had disembarked – by which time it was too late to save him, his family alleges.

John William Cannon suffered a fatal heart attack in the back of an ambulance as EMTs rushed him to Mercy Medical Center in Durango, Colorado, according to a wrongful death lawsuit filed by Cannon’s son, who is now also the administrator of his estate.The Kentucky resident was in town to attend his best friend’s daughter’s wedding, attorney Joseph LoRusso, who is representing the Cannons in court, told The Independent.LoRusso, himself a commercial airline-rated pilot, described the apparent lack of urgency in summoning assistance for the elder Cannon as “unbelievably frustrating.”

“How long does it take to deboard an airplane? 20, 30 minutes? That’s critical time,” LoRusso said on Wednesday.Cabin crews are trained in CPR, and all commercial airliners have been required since 2004 to carry defibrillators onboard, LoRusso went on.

“Nobody’s expecting a flight attendant to be a doctor, but you have to at least attempt a recovery,” he said.

If things had played out differently, Cannon would “probably” be alive today, according to co-counsel Jessica McBryant.“The emotional side of this is not just in losing a family member, but in how it went down,” McBryant told The Independent. “How alone and scared he must have been.”

In an email, an American Airlines spokesperson said simply, “We are reviewing the complaint.”During the flight to Durango, Cannon “entered a stage of medical crisis which resulted in him becoming unresponsive,” the complaint continues.

“Despite Mr. Cannon’s escalating medical crisis, the… flight crew delayed requesting medical assistance until after the aircraft had landed, taxied to the gate, and all other passengers had deplaned,” it goes on.One of the crew members told emergency dispatchers that Cannon was “in and out of consciousness with labored breathing,” according to the complaint. Firefighters were first on the scene, and gave Cannon oxygen while waiting for medics to arrive, the complaint states. It says they then removed Cannon from the aircraft and loaded him into an ambulance, where he soon went into ventricular fibrillation arrest, the most frequent cause of sudden cardiac death, according to the Mayo Clinic.The ambulance crew performed approximately ten minutes of chest compressions, administered two doses of epinephrine, and delivered multiple Automated External Defibrillator (AED) shocks,” the complaint statesCannon’s best friend was waiting for him at the gate when the flight landed and disgorged everyone aboard, except for Cannon, according to LoRusso.

“Next thing he knows, EMS pulls up and they’re pulling John off,” he told The Independent. “It was business as usual until they could get all the passengers away, and then, all of a sudden, it became an emergency… It seems like it’s become a persistent issue, where these flight crews are ‘event averse.’ Like, if you downplay things and attempt to sweep them under the rug, that’s the go-to play these days.”