Man Found Dead On Aa Nrt-ord A/c

[jimntx]

"Indianapolis man found dead in airplane lavatory

A 63-year-old Indianapolis man was found dead Wednesday in the lavatory of an American Airlines flight arriving at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport from Tokyo, authorities said Thursday.

The body of the man, identified as Matsuo Taisuke, was found by cleaning staff around 5 p.m. -- about an hour after Flight 154 landed, said Tim Smith, an airline spokesman.

Taisuke died of heart failure, the office of the Cook County, Ill., medical examiner said Thursday. Taisuke was to take another flight from O'Hare to Indianapolis, Smith said.

As the Boeing 777 landed, flight attendants were unaware Taisuke was in the lavatory, Smith said. The lavatories have lighted signs to indicate when they are occupied. Smith said Taisuke closed the bathroom door but apparently left it unlocked, so the sign was not lit."

Indianapolis Star website

This is all I could find about this. A friend in Indy called me last night and told me about it. This is embarassing. The f/as are supposed to check the lavs before they take their jumpseats for landing and before leaving the a/c after landing.
Anyone else heard anything about this?

 

[Fly]

Sad for the man indeed. But just watch the poor flight attendants get blamed for this too.

 

[jimntx]

Did you not read the part of my post below the article? This one is, in fact, the fault of the flight attendants. Not that the man died, but that he was found an hour after arrival by the CLEANERS.

I don't know about UAL, but at AA our procedure is to check the lavs--not just look and see if they are locked; actually open the lav door and look inside--before taking our seats for landing AND again before leaving the aircraft. There are a lot of passengers who head for the lav the second the seatbelt sign is turned off at the gate. You can not assume that the lav is empty just because the sign on the outside says vacant. I have passengers all the time who seem not to know how to lock the door.

 

[Wretched Wrench]

I wonder if he could have been saved if he had been found before landing.

 

[Albatroz]

Same policy at UA. Also, after landing F/As are assigned, depending where they are seating, to check doors and lavatories on their way out.

 

[Boomer]

With all due respect to the recently departed and his family:


Get off the Flight Attendants,

We had a dead guy fly around the system for days in the wheel well area of an A-300: due to cost cutting on maintenance checks; after 9-11.

The facts seem to be that the door was not locked and therefore no Occupancy sign was illuminated. Whether the Passenger involved could have been saved is a question that has not been answered by competent Medical Authorities.

Factually, American Airlines Flight Attendants have been instrumental in saving the lives of numerous verifiable passengers; and, they have attempted to resuscitate numerous passengers and at least one Member of the Ramp without success.

In the case of the Ramp Employee, Crew Members initiated both CPR and the application of the AED because they fundamentally understand their function of protecting ANYONE aboard their aircraft.

Outside of the first aid function, it was the Flight Attendants aboard Flt. 11 that were the first to give the alarm: those individuals continued to transmit information to the end.

During the Richard Reid, Shoe Bomber Incident, it was an AA Flight Attendant that smelled the matches Reid was using to attempt ignition of the plastic explosive hidden in his shoes; She confronted a Suicide Bomber and enlisted the aid of passengers in preventing the completion of his mission.

I remain proud of the fact that AA was the leader in equiping our aircraft with AEDs', and proud of the fact that our Flight Attendants have made such a difference in the lives of those they have saved and attempted to save.

Regards,
Boomer, not the Captain.

 

[jimntx]

The facts seem to be that the door was not locked and therefore no Occupancy sign was illuminated. Whether the Passenger involved could have been saved is a question that has not been answered by competent Medical Authorities.

[post="262513"][/post]​

Ok, let me say this again sloooowwwllly. I am an AA flight attendant. Our procedures state clearly that f/as are to check the lavs every two hours in flight, before taking our jumpseats for landing, and before leaving the aircraft. Checking the lav does NOT mean looking to see if the door is locked and the occupied sign is illuminated. It means opening the lav door if it is not locked and looking inside.

Whether the guy died in flight or went into the lav after arrival at the gate and then died, the flight attendants should have found him before leaving the aircraft. End of discussion.

Either the f/a crew did not follow established, written procedure or (worse) one of them saw the body and decided that it would be too much trouble to report and would cause him/her to miss their commuter flight home. I hope to god it was the first option though I have flown with some f/as who wouldn't hesitate to take the second option.

 

[swflyer]

With all due respect to the recently departed and his family:
Get off the Flight Attendants,

[post="262513"][/post]​

Boomer,

Respectfully, I would be the last to in any way diminish my fellow flight attendants at American and their daily heroic efforts both on and off the record.

Having said that, Jim is pointing out that procedures (according to him) weren't followed, and the press got a hold of a VERY unfortunate story. It's a headline because the cleaners found the guy an hour after landing.

Unfortunate, and avoidable is the point I heard.

 

[TWAnr]

From APFA:

As most of you are already aware: on Wednesday, April 13th a 66-year old male passenger was found unconscious in the aircraft lavatory. Paramedics were called to the scene by Cabin Service, as the crew had already deplaned, however, the passenger was deceased. Please refer to your in-flight manual section: 2.1 for the proper procedures prior to deplaning the aircraft.

 

[Boomer]

I usually eat my crow well done, not burnt.

In this case, I may have to consume it in several sittings.