A transatlantic American Airlines flight yesterday had to divert for a sad reason…
In this post:
American flight attendant dies on Venice to Philadelphia flight
Tragically, an American flight attendant passed away yesterday on a flight that was scheduled to operate from Venice (VCE) to Philadelphia (PHL). On June 21, 2023, AA715 was operated by a roughly one-year-old Boeing 787-8 with the registration code N883BM.
The flight departed Italy as scheduled, though unfortunately during the early portion of the flight, one of the flight attendants had a medical emergency. CPR was performed on her, but she passed away. The flight then ended up diverting to Dublin (DUB), where it landed just over 2hr30min after departing Venice.
The flight attendant who passed away was Carol Wright, who was also the flight’s purser, and had a 38 year career at American. Based on everything I’ve seen and heard, she was loved by her colleagues, and was a positive spirit.
How sad. My thoughts are with Carol’s family, as I can only imagine their grieving. Flight attendants fly around the globe constantly, and I’m sure when they say bye to their families before a trip, they don’t expect it will be the last time they see them.
My thoughts are also with all of her colleagues, and especially the crew she was working with on this flight. I can’t imagine how traumatizing it is to deal with this under any circumstances, let alone onboard a plane.
I haven’t seen a whole lot of information as to how this all played out. Was she not feeling well when she boarded, or was this sudden? Did this happen in the cabin, and/or did passengers know what was going on?
What happened when the flight diverted to Dublin
Once the plane landed in Dublin, the continuation of the flight to Philadelphia was canceled. I’m not sure if that was because the pilots were going to time out, if it’s because they were under FAA minimums for number of crew members, or if it was because the crew was in shock following what happened.
It could be a combination of those, and any/all are completely valid reasons. Safety is paramount in the airline industry, and you don’t want crews flying after they’ve dealt with this kind of trauma.
It would appear that roughly 24 hours after passengers arrived in Dublin, the continuation to Philadelphia is finally underway. The same Boeing 787 is now operating the flight to Philadelphia as flight number AA9817.
While it goes without saying that this was a significant inconvenience for all involved, I hope that passengers treat the crew with respect and are considerate of the situation — not just because it’s not the crew’s fault, but also because I imagine they’re going through quite a bit of trauma as well.
Bottom line
An American Airlines flight from Venice to Philadelphia diverted to Dublin, after a flight attendant passed away inflight. The flight attendant who passed away was also the purser, who had been at the airline for 38 years. This is just so, so sad, and my thoughts are with Carol’s family, friends, and colleagues.
As the daughter of Carol, some of these comments are absolutely disgusting. Do better.
I was on the flight. Extremely sad and the crew was devastated.
There are some questions that need asking though…
The initial request for a doctor was near Paris. We did not divert immediately. Our flight path changed slightly towards London and I thought for sure we’d land there…we continued on. It was until she became unresponsive after we’d passed Dublin that an emergency was declared. If we’d have landed in Paris or...
I was on the flight. Extremely sad and the crew was devastated.
There are some questions that need asking though…
The initial request for a doctor was near Paris. We did not divert immediately. Our flight path changed slightly towards London and I thought for sure we’d land there…we continued on. It was until she became unresponsive after we’d passed Dublin that an emergency was declared. If we’d have landed in Paris or London she would have had a chance at least. Why did we keep going?
You’re
F**king dumb . .
Just for clarification....I think you have the flight numbers and registration wrong.
The flight that flew from Dublin to Philadelphia was AA 9780.
What was the cause of death?
What a macabre post, please remove it, it’s not the kind of story this blog needs to report on
I completely agreed
Especially the site didn’t get permission from the family
I highly doubt any of the "news orgs" got "clearance from the family" to report on this either. Life happens. Get over it. Ben and the frequent flyers here reading his website can have feelings too and can respectfully morn the loss of a long time employee as well. In fact, if You READ the comments, someone who knew her read this and commented celebrating her life. So go away of you want to live under a turtle shell and no know anything ever that happens.
Hopefully when something happened to you and your family, it will be published on this website accordingly
No need for permission! It is widely reported news. Do you want to go after USA Today, the New York Times, the Associated Press, etc that have ALL reported on this?
Grow up
Hopefully when something happened to you and your family, it will be published on this website accordingly
This is why your bloody name is retired gambler
Be respectful
Please kindly take this post down. Carol’s family requested privacy and this is not something to be published
Especially her info with her photo from AA
TWO of her co-workers have commented and celebrated her life here on the very post. Go live under a rock if you don't ever want to know what's going on in the world. This is a sad event that has happened before and will happen again, it is newsworthy, other news orgs have also reported in some fashion, it was either public or shared. I guarantee other info is online about her as well. Kinda...
TWO of her co-workers have commented and celebrated her life here on the very post. Go live under a rock if you don't ever want to know what's going on in the world. This is a sad event that has happened before and will happen again, it is newsworthy, other news orgs have also reported in some fashion, it was either public or shared. I guarantee other info is online about her as well. Kinda holding Ben to a ridiculous standard. PYOK, VFTW, JonNYC, and lots of others have this exact picture/post too.
It has been published in a number of leading newspapers so not sure why you think Ben is off base here. This is news and should be reported. Now issues like cause of death, photos (god help us I hope no one pulled out their phone to video it but that probably happened), etc are intrusive and if the family doesn't want that type of info out that is fine but the fact she passed away, impact on the flight, etc are all legitimate news.
It might hence not with the exact company to staff correspondence news media
Be respectful
Fly with the angels, Carol. You were a joy to fly with! My deepest sympathy to your husband Jeff and daughter Haley. Hugs to your crew you had with you as I cannot imagine what they are going through. Lots of love for my AA fAAmily as my thoughts and prayers are with you all. RIP Carol❣️
Very sad and not an uncommon event on a flight among passengers, just based on crew to passenger ratios and mandatory pilot retirement ages, much less common with crew. I don't understand all of the speculation about compensation to the family with little to no information about the circumstances health or financial.
It was a pleasure to know you Carol! You will be missed! RIP
Since US airlines have a seniority based staffing scheme, this could become an almost weekly occurance in the near future.
EU261/2004 compensation for passengers on the flight!
You would be surprised. People don’t care nowadays and apparently I read somewhere that the death of a crew member is considered as normal during the course of operations and should not be unexpected. They would rather get their EUR600 than show any remorse.
SEAN M. your comment is disgusting. This was part of life and has ZILCH to do with anything the company did. Money hungry and absolutely vile & gross comment.
It can be disgusting but sadly true. A TAP Portugal pilot was found death in his hotel room in Stuttgart, Germany and the flight to Lisbon had to be cancelled. Passengers did request the airline to pay according to EU 261/2004. The company refused alleging extraordinary circumstances. The case went up to the EU courts which ruled against the airline.
Hugo, interesting data point. I have a feeling since this happened in the air and not before the flight on the ground where maybe some scheduling could be changed: This is a different situation. But we'll see.
This is why I will never fly Cape Air. They have only one pilot and no flight attendants.
Last time I flew Cape Air, there were two pilots. (Although I think they are allowed to operate with just one, as long as that pilot has a minimum number of hours of experience.)
She suddenly passed out on the plane, and CPR/defibrillation/etc were all attempted. (source: FA)
That’s awful and traumatic . I hope her family takes legal action against American immediately and doesn’t accept their 8k lowball offer. She had 38 years seniority and her family deserves better. Grieve later don’t let American walk all over her grave.
What did American do in this situation to warrant legal action? Was it somehow their fault? And what's the "8k lowball offer"? Seems weird to comment with all of this extra information that isn't addressed in the story.
Why does AA owe her family money? She got sick and the result tragically caused her death. Getting very sick inflight has a greater risk because medical attention is limited. Truthfully I see very frail, infirmed people getting on planes every day and have to wonder just how dumb their family members are. They seem clueless to the risk they are exposing that person to.
Not saying that American did anything wrong . However , after 38 years of service there surely is some money vested , pension , or some money that the family may be unaware of what they are owed. They should be properly compensated. Maybe a Union rep out there can shed more light on the matter.
That's what life insurance is for.
What a moron you must be
@Icarus
You are a low life.
I am not an Attorney, I have no idea of any obligations. I do know that typical heart disease is a medical problem and typically it is very hard to assign blame to employment.
When an employee or retiree passes away the survivor will receive a phone call from American within 24 hours expressing their condolences and that they will be receiving a check in the amount of …. They get the corporate treatment. If the survivors judgement is clouded because they are grieving there is no way to double check the accuracy of said amount and if it is accepted then that’s that.
D3Kingg YOUR a low life. Why even comment like this on an post memorializing this woman's death? Your attention seeking behavior is gross.
@BenjaminGutterry
The point is that American could care less about this employee . She took crap from passengers like you for years. She was someones mother , someones best friend , and someones hero.
Now get back to work !
D3kingg, You ignorant.
Don't see any basis for the family to sue the airline. The claims that the airline will somehow "walk all over her grave" if allowed seem completely ridiculous.
Sorry for the irrational comments earlier ; this hits home on a personal level for me.
So when an active airline employee or retiree of a US legacy carrier passes away regardless of the circumstances what do the airlines have to pay out ? How is that determined ?
That would depend on the life insurance coverage either provided by the airline or that the employee had purchased supplemental. Not sure why you think there is some kind of extra automatic payment? If the death were from a work-related condition, then workers’ compensation benefits would kick in. But this doesn’t sound like a work-related injury or illness. But if it were, there is a schedule of survivor benefits, burial, etc that would be paid...
That would depend on the life insurance coverage either provided by the airline or that the employee had purchased supplemental. Not sure why you think there is some kind of extra automatic payment? If the death were from a work-related condition, then workers’ compensation benefits would kick in. But this doesn’t sound like a work-related injury or illness. But if it were, there is a schedule of survivor benefits, burial, etc that would be paid out under applicable workers’ compensation coverage. But just because a fatality happens at work, doesn’t mean that it’s “work-related”.
D3Kingg. Why should there be legal action? I don't understand except the fact that money hungry people like you just want to profit from someones death! The company had nothing to do to cause her death as far as I know. That would be a different situation. People have heart attacks and other physical problems and die. It happens every minute of every day!
Dale
American did not cause the death of the employee. My point is that when you work for an airline for 38 years you may have some type of benefits , pensions , etc that are supposed to be paid out and this should be double checked for accuracy. The family will be contacted immediately upon death at the most inconvenient possible time. It’s possible for a mistake to slip through the cracks ....
Dale
American did not cause the death of the employee. My point is that when you work for an airline for 38 years you may have some type of benefits , pensions , etc that are supposed to be paid out and this should be double checked for accuracy. The family will be contacted immediately upon death at the most inconvenient possible time. It’s possible for a mistake to slip through the cracks . So it’s not me it’s the corporations. American has 130,00 employees for an example.
How very sad.