An American Airlines Passenger Thought He Was Having a Heart Attack… Flight Attendants Responded By Threatening Him

An American Airlines passenger on a seven-hour flight to Brazil thought he was having a heart attack and nearly lost consciousness from the pain he was suffering, but flight attendants dismissed his concerns, didn’t offer any medical help, and even threatened him.

That’s what a lawsuit filed in a Florida district court alleges, but after denying any liability, the passenger now fears that American Airlines is trying to bury the case by exhausting his financial resources to carry on fighting the case.

Paulo Oliveira from Orlando, Florida, was flying with American Airlines to visit his family in São Paulo, Brazil, on June 18, 2023, when he suddenly began to feel incredibly sick and called for help from the flight attendants.

Five hours of the seven-hour flight from Miami to São Paulo had already passed, so the plane would have been flying high above central Brazil between Manaus and Brasilia when Oliveira began to feel ill.

Otherwise fit and healthy, Oliveira said he began to experience severe chest pain and shortness of breath… no doubt an extremely distressing and worrying situation.

But Oliveira says American Airlines failed to take his symptoms seriously and dismissed his complaints. One of the flight attendants even told Oliveira that “nothing could be done,” and when he pushed back, she accused him of fabricating his symptoms.

As the interaction continued, the flight attendant allegedly became abrasive and dismissive, saying that an emergency medical diversion was a bad idea because all the other passengers would turn against Oliveira.

Now in a panicked state, the purser attempted to shut Oliveira down, telling him to shut up or face the Captain being informed and things “becoming very bad” for him.

As it turns out, Oliveira thankfully wasn’t seriously unwell. Upon landing, emergency medical responders were waiting, and Oliveira’s vitals were all within the normal range.

Oliveira says that the lack of serious illness isn’t the point but rather the crew’s reaction to the symptoms he was presenting at the time. Oliveira believes his case is symptomatic of a bigger issue at the airline.

In September, American Airlines was ordered to pay $13.2 million in damages to a passenger and his relatives because flight attendants failed to follow medical procedures.

Jesus Plasencia was left in a critical condition after he suffered a massive stroke just an hour and a half into the transatlantic flight to Madrid in November 2021, and is still unable to speak, write, or walk. Plasencia also has to have round-the-clock assistance to do everyday activities like bathing, going to the toilet, and eating.

Plasencia was with his wife when he “experienced a sudden inability to pick up his phone and began speaking gibberish” as the plane was still at the gate, and his wife called flight attendants over to help.

By the time the flight attendant arrived, however, Jesus had seemingly recovered, and the flight attendant didn’t seem to take the situation seriously. Instead of calling for medical assistance, the Captain made the decision to let Jesus fly.

Just an hour or so later, Jesus suffered another, much bigger stroke, but no medical assistance was offered until around an hour before landing.

Although a jury found that Plasencia’s actions contributed to his injuries, they found that the American Airlines crew deviated from standard medical procedures, which constitutes an accident under the Montreal Convention.