'Every Possible Therapy' Used on Teen Who Died on Diverted Flight

Dec. 9, 2013
The boy, whose name has not been released, had a previous medical condition but had been cleared to fly. An autopsy Monday will determine the exact cause of death.

Dec. 09--The 16-year-old boy who died Saturday morning aboard a Delta Air Lines flight bound for Atlanta from Seattle had a previous medical condition and went into cardiac arrest, Spokane Assistant Fire Chief Brian Schaeffer said Sunday afternoon.

Flight 128 was diverted to Spokane International Airport shortly after 9 a.m. Saturday while flight attendants and volunteers aboard the plane performed CPR, Schaeffer said.

Members of the Spokane Fire Department continued CPR for 40 minutes while the plane sat on the tarmac at the airport, but ultimately the boy was pronounced dead at the scene.

Schaeffer said the boy, whose name has not been released, had a previous medical condition but had been cleared to fly. An autopsy Monday will determine the exact cause of death, a spokeswoman for the Spokane Medical Examiner's Office said.

"It really hurts your heart when something like this isn't successful. We worked on him a long time, and did every possible therapy we could try," Schaeffer said. "Everyone on that plane knew what was going on, and it was incredibly emotional for everyone on board."

The boy and family members were flying to Atlanta for the holidays. His father, a soldier at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, was scheduled to drive to Atlanta to meet the family before Christmas, said Capt. Jesse Paulsboe, public-information officer for the man's unit, the 16th Combat Aviation Brigade of the 7th Infantry Division.

The father had new orders to be stationed near Atlanta, where the family is from. They had moved to Washington in June 2012 from Fort Hood, Texas, Paulsboe said.

Schaeffer said the father immediately drove over Snoqualmie Pass. He is now on emergency leave to be with his family in Spokane.

"It is a 4.5-hour drive on I-90 over here, and I don't think it took him that much longer to get here," Schaeffer said.

The family is being put up in a hotel near the Spokane airport while waiting for the medical examiner to perform the autopsy.

Delta spokesman Michael Thomas said there were 258 passengers on Flight 128. Delta flew in another crew from Salt Lake City on Saturday afternoon to take the remaining passengers to Atlanta. The continuation of Flight 128 arrived in Atlanta at 12:48 a.m. Sunday, more than eight hours behind schedule.

Coral Garnick: 206-464-2422 or [email protected]. On Twitter @coralgarnick

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