‘I can’t breathe’: Korean Air sued over in-flight death of passenger
The lawsuit filed in the US alleged that the airline failed to provide oxygen to Porscha Tynisha Brown who died in 2024
Korean Air said on Friday it will faithfully respond to legal procedures in the United States, where a lawsuit was filed in Virginia on behalf of the estate of Porscha Tynisha Brown, who died at age 33 in March 2024, during a flight from Washington to Incheon operated by the airline.
Burns Charest, the law firm representing the complainants, claimed her death resulted from a series of critical failures by Korean Air flight personnel.
According to the complaint, Brown experienced sudden respiratory distress about 12 hours into the flight, telling her travelling companions and crew members, “I can’t breathe”, before collapsing.
“Although flight attendants provided what they claimed to be an oxygen mask, after the flight, eyewitnesses discovered the mask was never connected to an oxygen supply, leaving Ms Brown without the life-saving oxygen she urgently needed,” the complaint said.
The law firm said flight personnel stood by and watched as untrained passengers were unable to operate the machine, even after the aircraft’s automated external defibrillator indicated that a shock was necessary to revive her.
“The flight crew failed to promptly notify the cockpit of the severity of the emergency, delaying a diversion to the nearest airport,” it added. “The aircraft ultimately made an emergency landing in Osaka, Japan, where Ms Brown was pronounced dead on arrival.”