is this woman right to say the airline "essentially" poisoned her?

alexonhisown · 20-10-2016 12:10PM #1

http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/essentially-i-was-poisoned-irish-woman-25-spends-three-weeks-in-intensive-care-after-longhaul-flight-35143201.html

I dont know much about flying long haul with cf, and what procedures are in place on aircraft for these passengers, but part of me thinks she shouldnt have flown so far

And why moan about the irish support group in sydney, did they expect them to book 5 star hotels for the family?

Hasmunch · 20-10-2016 12:17PM

What were the airline supposed to do differently?

Adding 2 hours onto an already 14 hour flight is only adding 15% more time, delays happen so this is not unreasonable.
If her body was that close to not being able to handle 14 hours of flying then she shouldn't have been on the flight.

FrancieBrady · 20-10-2016 12:21PM

Would she not have been much safer to land hop down to Aus, fly a bit, take an overnight, fly another bit etc.

valoren · 20-10-2016 12:22PM

She has a medical condition, she was assisted with getting a fit to fly clearance by the airline for a long haul flight, they followed standard operating procedure while grounded. You really shouldn't take the risk. She knew the risks and took them.

elefant · 20-10-2016 12:25PM

She sounds like an absolute dose.

I hate the attitude that it's always someone else's fault. The bit about the accommodation for her parents only being a hostel in Sydney sums it up.

20-10-2016 12:27PM

It says it was cos the 2 hours had the engines off. Is the air not filtered properly then or?

Your Face · 20-10-2016 12:28PM

alexonhisown wrote: »

I dont know much about flying long haul with cf, and what procedures are in place on aircraft for these passengers

Haha

Red Kev · 20-10-2016 12:29PM

She never said the airline poisoned her, you make it sound like it was deliberate. What she says is..

"My lungs failed to cope with the massive influx of CO2 they were taking in and I got hypoxia. Essentially I was poisoned with CO2.

There is a risk of that involved, but it's a risk CF sufferers take. I know someone who flew to Melbourne for a wedding, but they had two (or 3?) stops en route top break it up into 7 and 8 hour legs.

Sounds like bad luck on her part, the plane could have been delayed in numerous ways to prolong the flight, such as stacking somewhere if there was a hold up at the destination airport.

Sounds like the family and herself were well treated, 20 mins to a hospital is not the worst.

"Our records show that we assisted her in obtaining her unconditional fit to fly medical clearance certificate ahead of the flight from Dublin to Sydney via Abu Dhabi. We also took numerous additional measures to ensure her comfort before and during the flight. These included specially pre-allocated seating, complimentary access to our lounges, an extra bag allowance for medical equipment, and meet and assist services at departure in Dublin and Abu Dhabi and on arrival in Sydney."
"The flight from Abu Dhabi to Sydney was delayed by one hour and 26 minutes prior to departure due to the offload of a sick passenger. While the aircraft was on the ground, in line with industry-standard normal operating procedures, the auxiliary power unit provided power and pressurised air for the air conditioning systems throughout the aircraft. These systems ensure the constant flow and refresh of air across all cabins both on the ground and in the air.

"The crew and airport staff were briefed on her condition and reports for the flight do not show any further requests for medical assistance from her or her travelling companion at any stage of her journey."

Summer wind · 20-10-2016 12:38PM

The certificate issued to state she was fit to fly was useless if it didn't factor in what would happen if there were flight delays.

osarusan · 20-10-2016 12:43PM

I wonder how aware she was of the risks involved for such a long flight, even without a delay.

If 14 hours induced almost complete respiratory failure, 12 hours would still likely have had some effect?

This is something I found on a UK website for CF:

At high altitudes the air pressure and oxygen concentration are lower than on the ground, which may be a problem for people with decreased lung function. Before booking a flight you should ask your CF team whether you need a 'fit to fly' test. If the test shows that your blood oxygen levels could be affected, you may have to take oxygen with you on the aeroplane. The tests should be repeated each time you fly, as your blood oxygen levels may change over time.

I wonder did she have oxygen with her, or did the plane have any that could have been administered. As the airline knew she had CF, I wonder could they have been better prepared also.

but it's not clear exactly when she went downhill - it says it was after disembarking...when she would already have started breathing 'normal air' again?

I know nothing about CF.

EagererBeaver · 20-10-2016 12:47PM

Summer wind wrote: »

The certificate issued to state she was fit to fly was useless if it didn't factor in what would happen if there were flight delays.

The airline's statement said "unconditional fit to fly certificate". I can't imagine there wasn't latitude in there for delays.

I sympathise with her plight but she's out of order having a moan about the support her family was offered. Charity organisations are hardly going to put her family up in the Ritz.

irish_goat · 20-10-2016 12:49PM

Someone is telling lies.

yer one wrote:

The flight was delayed and remained at the gate, with the doors closed and the engine not running for over two hours.

Etihad Airways wrote:

The flight from Abu Dhabi to Sydney was delayed by one hour and 26 minutes prior to departure due to the offload of a sick passenger.

ohnonotgmail · 20-10-2016 12:50PM

osarusan wrote: »

I wonder how aware she was of the risks involved for such a long flight, even without a delay.

If 14 hours induced almost complete respiratory failure, 12 hours would still likely have had some effect?

This is something I found on a UK website for CF:

I wonder did she have oxygen with her, or did the plane have any that could have been administered. As the airline knew she had CF, I wonder could they have been better prepared also.

but it's not clear exactly when she went downhill - it says it was after disembarking...when she would already have started breathing 'normal air' again?

I know nothing about CF.

It says she didnt start having problems until after the flight landed. One thing though that doesnt make sense. She said the problem was caused by the plane sitting on the ground for over 2 hours in which time the level of CO2 in the plane built up. But that happened at the start of the flight. how come it didnt affect her until she landed?

osarusan · 20-10-2016 12:56PM

ohnonotgmail wrote: »

It says she didnt start having problems until after the flight landed. One thing though that doesnt make sense. She said the problem was caused by the plane sitting on the ground for over 2 hours in which time the level of CO2 in the plane built up. But that happened at the start of the flight. how come it didnt affect her until she landed?

I think she's saying that she got 14 hours of higher-than-normal CO2, rather than the 12 she was expecting.

HensVassal · 20-10-2016 01:22PM

elefant wrote: »

She sounds like an absolute dose.

I hate the attitude that it's always someone else's fault. The bit about the accommodation for her parents only being a hostel in Sydney sums it up.

I don't get the impression that she is having a go at the airline. Do you see her assigning blame to anyone? She merely stated facts, i.e. that she was poisoned with CO2.

elefant · 20-10-2016 01:31PM

HensVassal wrote: »

I don't get the impression that she is having a go at the airline. Do you see her assigning blame to anyone? She merely stated facts, i.e. that she was poisoned with CO2.

Yeah, reading through it again it's not clear that she's blaming them per ce, it might just be the newspaper article written in that way, for whatever reason. The references to 'being stuck' in the aeroplane, and the airline's statement explaining their actions gives that impression.

She certainly does have ago at the Irish Support Group in Sydney about her parent's free accommodation not being up to scratch though.

ChikiChiki · 20-10-2016 01:36PM

Her own fault taking a risk flying with that condition. How's she going to get home? I suppose by sea. She definitely shouldn't risk flying back.

ScumLord · 20-10-2016 03:35PM

ohnonotgmail wrote: »

It says she didnt start having problems until after the flight landed. One thing though that doesnt make sense. She said the problem was caused by the plane sitting on the ground for over 2 hours in which time the level of CO2 in the plane built up. But that happened at the start of the flight. how come it didnt affect her until she landed?

Maybe it was some sort of oxygen shock. Oxygen is also toxic at high levels. Maybe the blast of air with much higher levels of oxygen overwhelmed her lungs?

Grayson · 20-10-2016 03:50PM

Etihad are well known for their delays. I was travelling last year and my 16 hour flight time took nearly 3 days. Two flights with an hour between them turned into three flights with delays of up to 16 hours between them. If you check their facebook page you'll see hundreds of people complaining about the same thing.

Plus planes do have a far higher CO2 density than normal air. It's because it's cheaper to run the recyclers on low power. Strangely the air quality has dropped since smoking was banned on flights. They don't need to clean it up as much. Plus when flying air is drawn from the engines. It's then cooled and circulated through the cabin. I have no idea if they take in any external air when the plane is on the ground and the engines aren't running.

BrokenArrows · 20-10-2016 03:58PM

If she had CF then she was stupid to fly that long without a break.

Delays in planes are part of flying and if a simple 2 hour delay would almost kill you then you shouldn't be flying.

And also the condition didn't just happen the moment they landed. She would have deteriorated gradually over the course of the flight. Had the staff been informed of the seriousness of the condition mid flight they probably have emergency oxygen on board and could have diverted the flight.

If however she did inform them that she was having a problem and they did nothing, then thats a different story.

Special Circumstances · 20-10-2016 04:01PM

Red Kev wrote: »

She never said the airline poisoned her, you make it sound like it was deliberate. What she says is..

yeah, thread title based on logic fail.

jackofalltrades · 20-10-2016 04:51PM

Seems to be another Indo shock piece about the "dangers of flying" with a side serving of "companies are evil".
I can't see what more the airline could have done in this situation.
Yes the engines weren't running, but the AC would still have been on powered by the APU.
It Abu Dhabi in the summer, you'd know fairly fast if the AC wasn't working.

It's just an unfortunate incident, the lady involved took a chance and it didn't work out.
Long gone are the days when things happened and everyone wasn't out to blame someone else or take someone to court.

suicide_circus · 20-10-2016 04:59PM

"Deaf man complains that he couldnt hear concert"

"Woman with heart condition complains after collapsing during city marathon"

Gatling · 20-10-2016 05:09PM

Man with no legs complaining about odd socks

20-10-2016 05:11PM

The plane was parked up with the passengers inside for two hours, with the engines off. The air system wasn't operating with the engines off. The doors were closed. The composition of the air became unhealthy for everyone, and dangerous for her.

She had been cleared to fly, she did the research and was told it wasn't a risk. And it wasn't, if the the plane had been running it's air filtration system and not been parked up with the doors closed, full of passengers using up the oxygen.

ohnonotgmail · 20-10-2016 05:14PM

Candie wrote: »

The plane was parked up with the passengers inside for two hours, with the engines off. The air system wasn't operating with the engines off. The doors were closed. The composition of the air became unhealthy for everyone, and dangerous for her.

She had been cleared to fly, she did the research and was told it wasn't a risk. And it wasn't, if the the plane had been running it's air filtration system and not been parked up with the doors closed, full of passengers using up the oxygen.

this is certainly what was reported but it doesnt make sense. two hours on the ground in dubai with no air running and the least of the problems would be a buildup of CO2.

jackofalltrades · 20-10-2016 05:17PM

Candie wrote: »

The plane was parked up with the passengers inside for two hours, with the engines off. The air system wasn't operating with the engines off. The doors were closed. The composition of the air became unhealthy for everyone, and dangerous for her.

She had been cleared to fly, she did the research and was told it wasn't a risk. And it wasn't, if the the plane had been running it's air filtration system and not been parked up with the doors closed, full of passengers using up the oxygen.

The APU, a small engine at the back, was running which would have provided fresh cool air.

20-10-2016 05:28PM

jackofalltrades wrote: »

The APU, a small engine at the back, was running which would have provided fresh cool air.

And if she was hypoxic it's because there was too much CO2 in the air, and the system was insufficient or faulty and failed to keep the air quality at an acceptable level.

Just because most passengers coped well, it does not mean the air quality was good.

darkpagandeath · 20-10-2016 05:32PM

Wonder if you can claim for DVT ? Aus is what 13,000 km away.

B.A._Baracus · 20-10-2016 05:33PM

"don't look for sympathy" is a very famous quote. No truer than on boards.ie

darkpagandeath · 20-10-2016 05:35PM

B.A._Baracus wrote: »

"don't look for sympathy" is a very famous quote. No truer than on boards.ie

Underlying medical condition though. It's your own responsibility to take care of your health. I would assume with a serious condition you have to factor in delays. Also inform the airline of any special needs.

is this woman right to say the airline "essentially" poisoned her?

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