“She stepped into her coffin”: Family of woman who died after flight sue

COLUMBIA, S.C. — The family of a South Carolina woman who died after suffering a medical emergency during an American Airlines flight has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the airline. Relatives of 25-year-old Brittany Oswell filed a federal lawsuit in South Carolina earlier this month. The complaint says Oswell suffered an embolism while on a 2016 American flight from Honolulu to Dallas.

According to the lawsuit, a doctor on the flight told the crew to land so Oswell could get medical treatment. The suit accuses the airline of negligence, saying the crew wouldn’t land and that an onboard defibrillator and blood pressure cuffs didn’t work.

“The doctor asked to land the plane three times,” Brad Cranshaw, a lawyer representing the woman’s family, told The State newspaper. “The doctor who was holding Brittany was begging them to land.”  

Oswell died several days later at a Dallas hospital.

“When Brittany got on the plane, she stepped into her coffin,” Cranshaw told The State. 

In a statement, American told The Associated Press the company was looking into details of the case.