A veteran American Airlines flight attendant died after suffering a heart attack while working a flight last Sunday alongside his wife who is also a flight attendant. Joe Tormes was aged just 61 years old and had been working American Airlines flight AA1296 from Indianapolis to Dallas on Sunday, July 5 when he was suddenly taken ill.
“It is with deep sadness that we inform you of the sudden passing of Joe Tormes, a St. Louis-based Flight Attendant, on Sunday, July 5, 2020,” a memo from the Association of Professional Flight Attendants (APFA) informed his coworkers earlier this week. “Joe and his wife Elsa Jett-Tormes were working a flight together when Joe passed away.”
A source quoted by local media said other flight attendants and a healthcare worker travelling on the flight performed CPR on Joe for over 20 minutes. The pilots declared a medical emergency and the flight diverted to St. Louis Lambert International Airport where it was met by emergency medical services.
Tragically, they were unable to revive Joe. He had worked for American Airlines for 20-years.
The flight was recrewed in St. Louis with new flight attendants and it departed for Dallas several hours later.
A spokesperson for American Airlines confirmed an on-duty flight attendant had died aboard a flight, reiterating that his death was the result of a heart attack. The spokesperson also thanked airport customer service and flight ops teams at St Louis for helping to support Jett, the other flight attendant and passengers.
