/ / / / / / /

Ryanair Handles Mid-Flight Passenger Heart Attack Exactly How You Imagine

August 5, 2011 at 2:32 PM | by | Comments (0)

Any time Ryanair spokespeople begin to talk about following EU airline regulations—and by "following EU airline regulations" they mean "doing the absolute minimum as required by law"—you know that something has gone wildly awry.

Last time we saw them being defensive like this was last year, after they stranded Canary Island-bound passengers on the entirely wrong island in the midst of a thunderstorm. The airline's excuse? That according to EU regulations they were, in terms of physical distance, close enough.

So with Ryanair spokesperson Stephen McNamara telling a Swedish newspaper that flight attendants handled a medical situation according to EU requirements, you know that the story is going to be good. And by good we mean very, awesomely bad.

Per-Erik Jonsson, a 63-year old Swedish man, had a heart attack flying London to Stockholm on the Irish LCC. First he broke into a cold sweat and then he passed out. At that point a nurse on board intervened and revived Jonsson, and meanwhile the man's wife alerted the cabin crew and asked for help. The cabin crew responded by selling the heart attack victim a sandwich and soft drink. Selling.

From there the rest of the story gets confusing. The family says that Ryanair flight attendants didn't assist them at all. Ryanair says the cabin crew offered both to divert the plane or to have an ambulance waiting, but that the family declined those options. It's a he said-she said that's potentially damaging to the airline; there might well be a lawsuit over this, but we weren't there so we don't know what happened.

What we do know—now as an established fact—is that you don't get a break on Ryanair's fees even if you're dying in the middle of the sky. What is it about that airline, do you think, that prevents their employees from acting like human beings?

[Photo: Luigi Chiesa / Wiki Commons]

Comments (0)

Post a Comment

Return to » Ryanair Handles Mid-Flight Passenger Heart Attack Exactly How You Imagine

Join the conversation!

Not a member? .
Use of this Site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement (effective 3/21/12) and Privacy Policy (effective 3/21/12). © Condé Nast. Your California Privacy Rights. All rights reserved. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Condé Nast.
Ad Choices