Dead Air

Fly the deadly skies! Not a good weekend for the air travel industry...

GB Airways (a British airline) was forced to divert to Turkey after the co-pilot died in mid-flight. God took over from there.

The flight was carrying 156 passengers from Manchester to Paphos in Cyprus, but landed in Istanbul after "a medical emergency on the flight deck" occured. The co-pilot was pronounced dead once the plane had landed. Natural causes were claimed, but at 43, that's a little young to die naturally. The airline said passengers were never in danger.

Meanwhile, Carine Desir was pronounced dead on a nearly full Haiti-to-New York flight by a pediatrician who said he tried to use the plane's defibrillator on her as she faded, but her pulse was already too weak for it to work.

American Airlines defended its staff as professional and its equipment as sound, despite her family's claims that the crew ignored her pleas until it was too late. The doctor, Joel Shulkin, was one of several medical professionals who stepped in after flight attendants asked if any were on board. Shulkin said through his attorney, Justin Nadeau, that two emergency medical technicians performed CPR on Desir, a diabetic.

Desir had complained of not feeling well and being very thirsty after she ate a meal on the flight. A flight attendant brought water to her, but a few minutes later, Desir (herself a nurse) said she was having trouble breathing and asked for oxygen.

"Don't let me die," she said, but a flight attendant twice refused her request.

The airline spokesman said Desir's cousin flagged down a flight attendant and said Desir had diabetes and needed oxygen. "The flight attendant responded, 'OK, but we usually don't need to treat diabetes with oxygen, but let me check anyway and get back to you.'" Yes, that is correct...insulin is a way better choice. The employee spoke with another flight attendant, and both went to Desir within three minutes, but by that time the situation was worsening, and they immediately began administering oxygen. There were 12 oxygen tanks on the plane and the crew checked them before the flight took off to make sure they were working. At least two were used on Desir.

"Her last words were, 'I cannot breathe.'" You got that right.