This is outrageous! That poor woman was refused oxygen twice? Natural causes, my foot! I hope that the entire crew faces manslaughter charges!! I will NEVER fly american airlines again! This is disgusting!!!! My prayers go out to this woman's family. What a senseless loss of life!

kevin, ft. collins, colorado

Robyn Russell, Atlanta, Georgia

Where on earth did you get the part about racial profiling??? There is nothing about race or national origin in the article.

Jim, Nashville,

Having survived two Pulmonary embolisms whilst flying I can attest to the fact that when you say you are short of breath, you need oxygen. Luckily I was just landing both times I needed attention, and the paramedics on the ground saved my life.

It sent a shudder through me, to think that I have been flying long distances on planes with staff or equipment unable to deal with such an emergency.

Ken , Chicago, IL, USA

Whether she is a 'large woman' or not (good grief!) the fact is, that an airline attendant should not hold the same responsibility as a medical attendant. At the same time however, when you are a 'captive' on a plane with no access to medical treatment, they do have a responsibility to do everything at their disposal to help someone in distress. They have all been trained to do at least the basics, and to use the equipment at their disposal. It soundls form this very slim account that they did have good med. personel at their disposal at some point, but the attendants initial refusal, and subsequent faulty equipment wasted precious minutes that may have saved her life. I would like to hear some other sides of this story before I place blame, but there is no excuse for the empty oxeygen tanks- it that is true. The attendants should at least be held responsible for not checking those.

teresa, West Hills, Ca.

As a physician, I have been shocked many times by the lack of medical knowledge and common sense of airplane staff. I have seen several situtions on planes where staff ignore the recommendations of doctors and nurses on the plane and seem to think they know what's going on. I read that the attendant said "we don't usually treat diabetes with oxygen", such a dumb thing to say. The woman was short of breath, regardless of the cause you treat that with oxygen.

john, seattle,

As a flight attendant for another airline I admit to being shocked and baffled as to how this could've happened. I've flown on AA before and they have no customer service, but 2 empty oxygen masks? On my flights if they aren't at least 3/4 full we don't go anywhere, even if that means a delay. I was even on a diverted flight recently because we had a person a suspected heart problem. How the passengers moaned...

Anyway my sympathies to the family.

Marie, London,

I don't want to rush to judgement as the rest of the people on this blog have, but I do have a few questions. What do the other passengers have to say about the actual events? What do the docotors and nurses that were on the flight have to say about how the situation was handled? How do we know that there wasn't oxygen in those tanks and that the AED wasn't working properly? Who are we to judge these 3 flight attendents actions without being there? What are the policies that American Airlines has set forth for its employees in this type of situation and were they followed? If the flight crew or doctors were able to save this lady would we still be bringing up all of our bad experiences with the airlines and saying they should have not only saved her, but cured her for life? Did anyone review her past medical history and the danger of her flying in such a condition? Take a moment to answer the questions listed above and any others that you might have before you come to an opinon.

Mike, Los Angeles / Las Vegas,

From the pictures she looks to be a very, very large woman. I don't see how the airlines should be expected to be responsible for someone whose health is very suspect to begin with.

Jeff, Chicago, IL

It does not surprise me that this happened. Having been in tourism and guest services for thirty years, companies will always cut corners, use faulty equipment, and not bother with the staff to keep the profits rolling in. That is the American way. American airlines is just continuing that tradition.

watercloset, Montpelier, Vermont

Having flown AA from the US to Chile, I agree with the comments from Robyn Russel regarding the "I don't care/not my problem" attitude from the flight staff. On both trajectories, there and back, the Texas-based staff was by far the rudest and most "ignorant" I have ever had on an international flight, at some point yelling at a man (who spoke no English) "don't touch me! Don't you EVER touch me again!" after he lightly tapper her on the shoulder to ask for something (common in Latin culture) after she "didn't hear" him make the request in Spanish, and they treated the passengers they thought were not Americans very differently from those they thought were Americans. If the flight attendants for international flights are so unprofessional, I can't imagine how they are on a domestic flight. I have vowed never to fly American Airlines again. It's a shame someone had to die because of staff and airline negligence.

Pablo Riquelme, Detroit, Michigan

When I read the article, my initial thought about the empty oxygen tanks was..."overhead emergency masks?" Surely, those were functional, but considering the other circumstances, that may be a bit presumptive of me. Too bad critical thinking is not part of crisis training.

Michael Quist, Fairfax, VA

Did we need an incident as such for American Airlines to learn how to treat people in the caribbean mainly Haitians. This industry has made millions upon millions of dollars with Haitians traveling to Haiti and this is what we are getting. I believe we should boycott this airline company.

Carolle, long Island, New York

And BA passengers complain that their baggage gets lost ??

John Doe, UK,

But we know flight attendants are there only for our safety, right? Why would we bother them with trivial life-and-death matters, it would distract them from keeping us safe...!

Sam Kapoor, Singapore, Singapore

Having travelled from China on American Airlines I can attest to the rudeness and 'I don't care' attitude of their staff. Those passengers the flight attendant assumed were not American Citizens were treated rudely and shouted at. As it happened she assumed incorrectly but racial profiling was alive and well. I certainly wouldn't have wanted to need medical help as I'm sure it would have been denied; rudely. Another passenger pointed out she was treated well and wondered why others weren't. Once I explained that she spoke with an American accent and those who were not didn't, she got the picture. American needs to retrain their staff urgently - some anger management and anti harrassment training would be a good start.

Robyn Russell, Atlanta, Georgia

Not acceptable to have ANY malfunction on a flight. However, I am a nurse and would suggest the family also review what she last ate. The described symptoms of increased thirst and feeling not able to breathe could suggest a reactive airway situation/allergic reaction (possibly from food/spice). What a shame this happened. My sympathy to the family.

Bee, towson,

It is sad for everyone involved. "Cutting corners" on maintenance & equipment saves money, but sooner or later results in tragedy.

Jay Gauthier, Grafton, Wisconsin, USA

TWO empty oxygen tanks! This is unbelievable. Airlines know passengers sometimes become ill during flights. Surely part of the cabin attendents pre-flight checks is to ensure the oxygen tanks are full and working? If not why not? This seems an unbelievable act of negligence on the part of one of the world's major airlines.

Bergman Coffey, Belfast,

AA CoE must resign

Adam Gardiner, Larnaca, Cyprus

American Airlines is FAMOUS for it's significant lack of care, whether for it's passengers or it's employees. A few years ago this airline had to be forced to transfer passengers to another plane to check a bomb threat; they simply didn't want to be out the money and inconvenience. In my opinion (informed and experienced), American Airlines continues to be the worst airline available to the public, and has been for years.

Clive, Little Rock, AR