Flight attendants on an American Airlines flight from Venice to Philadelphia leapt into action and made ‘valiant efforts’ to save the life of a colleague after she was taken ill a short time after takeoff on Wednesday.
American Airlines flight AA715 was passing over France on Wednesday afternoon when veteran flight attendant Carol Wright required medical assistance.
The other flight attendants immediately started emergency life support procedures and performed CPR in an attempt to save Carol as the pilots diverted the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner to Dublin after declaring a medical emergency.
The aircraft landed in Ireland a short time later and was met by airport fire services, as well as paramedics who transported Carol to a local hospital. Tragically, despite the best efforts of Casrol’s colleagues and emergency responders in Dublin, it wasn’t possible to save Carol’s life.
In an internal memo obtained by airline insider JonNYC on Twitter (@xJonNYC), American Airlines shared the news, saying: “It is with great sadness that we share the sudden passing of PHL-based Flight Attendant and Purser Carol Wright during a flight this morning”.
“Carol began her career with American Airlines 38 years ago, and she loved her profession and the many friendships she created. She is remembered as a pleasure to support and a joy to work alongside”.
“Any unexpected loss is extremely difficult, but please know that we are taking care of the colleagues who were flying with Carol,” the memo continued. “We are also in contact with Carol’s family and will provide for their needs and any help they require as we assist with bringing her home”.
The flight was later cancelled, and passengers are being rebooked onto alternative services.
It was reported that the flight had to be cancelled due to a lack of flight attendants able to operate the aircraft from Dublin to Philadelphia.
Last November, a long-serving flight attendant on a Gulf Air flight from Bahrain to Paris died after suffering a heart attack mid-flight. The plane diverted to Erbil in Iraq, where veteran crew member Yasser Saleh was taken to the hospital.
The plane remained on the ground for around three hours while it was refuelled and paperwork completed, but then took off and flew to Paris as originally scheduled. It’s believed that the same crew members worked on the flight to Paris.
The reason for this sudden death is definitely not the one you’re thinking of, right? Right?
The minimum crew for an American Airlines Boeing 787-8 is NOT 6, it is 8.
FAA minimum crew for 787-8 or 9 is not 6!!! Minimum crew is 8 on both, get your facts right please, you always try and make f/a’s look bad
The article mistakenly used data from the EASA Type Certificate which specifies that the minimum number of cabin crew for the Boeing 787-8 is six cabin crew. That being said, I’m not quite sure how saying that flight attendants would need to be stood down because they’ve just witnessed an incredibly distressing incident makes FA’s look bad?
8 doors = 8 Flight Attendants. That’s minimum crew, not 6.
Hi there Karen,
The article mistakenly used data from the EASA Type Certificate which specifies that the minimum number of cabin crew for the Boeing 787-8 is six cabin crew.
I was on the flight. The emergency started near Paris. The flight continued with her on oxygen and they were going to make a go/no go decision before we cleared Ireland. Shortly after passing Dublin she became unresponsive. It was at this point that we diverted to Dublin. The article is wrong when it says we immediately diverted. We passed Paris and London and were already past Dublin when we finally diverted. The flight path even showed that we diverted towards London but then continued on.
I question why we didn’t immediately land and get her help immediately. I hope the family is aware of the details. She was still alive with plenty of time to land in Paris or London.