American Airlines sued after passenger who suffered midflight emergency dies

The family of a South Carolina woman who died after suffering a medical emergency midflight is now suing American Airlines alleging wrongful death. Brittany Oswell, 25, suffered an embolism while flying from Honolulu, Hawaii to Dallas, Texas two years ago. The lawsuit claims the flight crew never attempted to make an emergency landing and that the onboard medical equipment was faulty. The lawsuit claims Oswell’s husband, Cory, paged the flight attendants on American Flight 102 about three hours into the trip after she became “dizzy and disoriented” and then fainted. The flight attendants then found a doctor among the other passengers who could further examine Oswell, who at that point was believed to have suffered a panic attack, according to the lawsuit. Several hours later, the flight attendants found Oswell on the floor of one of the plane’s lavatories after her husband flagged them down, according to the lawsuit. The lawsuit alleges that the doctor on the flight told the crew they needed to immediately divert the plane to the nearest airport so that Oswell could receive proper medical care. But with about 90 minutes left until their arrival in Dallas and after a call with a physician who was not on board, the pilots chose not to follow the doctor’s request, according to the lawsuit. American Airlines, in a statement to ABC News about the lawsuit, said: "We take the safety of our passengers very seriously and we are looking into the details of the complaint."<br/>