Thread by @VikasChawla75

@AmericanAir #neverflyAA #justiceForChawla #justiceMatters My father died due to gross negligence of American Airlines and we need answers. On December 17th, 2021, my parents were on an American Airlines direct flight (AA 293) from New Delhi to New York.

Five to six hours before landing at JFK, my father suffered a heart attack. He was a perfectly healthy individual with no history of heart problems, and was not on any medication.

Seeing that my father had all the classic signs of a massive heart attack (shoulder pain, profuse sweating and chest pain), she pleaded for help, and a volunteer passenger (a doctor) and a flight attendant administered first aid. Beyond that, nothing was done.

They simply watched him suffer for the next six hours. Upon arriving in New York, my father was removed from the plane, taken to the hospital, and died shortly thereafter.

According to the cardiologist who operated on my father, he died as a result of his heart muscle weakening because he did not get medical care for a full six hours after the heart attack. He could have been saved, said the cardiologist, if he had been brought in earlier.

As I looked at the flight path of the American Airlines plane, I was shocked to see that there were multiple opportunities where the plane could have been diverted to seek emergency help.

Wondering why the plane was not diverted, I asked American Airlines multiple times for a copy of the incident report that is always filed when these types of incidents occur.

Every time I asked, they refused, and in one email, said, “We apologize for any inconvenience your father experienced…. The safety of our crew and passengers is always our number one priority.

“INCONVENIENCE?” I was stunned. American Airlines’ negligence did not cause my father inconvenience, it caused his DEATH. And his safety was the airline’s “number one priority”? No, it wasn’t. My father’s safety didn’t matter to them at all.

American Airlines, I have something to say to you: it’s clear that by refusing to provide the incident reports to me or my lawyer, you are trying to hide your negligence.

In addition, one of your representatives lied outright, saying that my father’s heart attack happened one hour before landing. The flight crew and the volunteer doctor who tried to help my father will be able to refute this lie.

You simply don’t want the truth to come out, which will require you to take responsibility for your negligence that caused my father’s untimely and unnecessary death.

American Airlines, if you have nothing to hide, give me the incident report on what happened to my father on that flight.
I ask anyone reading this, if you have loved ones who fly between India and the United States, think twice before putting them on an American Airlines plane.

If there is any kind of medical emergency, they will not take action to save their lives, and they will actively obstruct your efforts to find out what happened afterwards.
Anyone who knows our family knows that we are not seeking financial compensation from this.

We just want the incident report and the truth, and most importantly, we don’t want this to happen to anyone else–ever. We hope through the help of social media, we might be able to make this large corporation–American Airlines–take responsibility and provide us with answers.

No one deserves to go through the pain that we have gone through.
If you were on flight (AA 293), and witnessed this event, could you reach out to us as we pursue justice and accountability? The last two months have been the darkest of our lives, and we could use your help.

To say that we loved my father, Mr. Talu Ram Chawla, would be an understatement - and to say we are going to miss him would be an even greater understatement.

For forty-nine years (they planned to celebrate their 50th anniversary with us here in Boston), my parents shared everything together, from financial struggles to the joy of giving unconditional love for their three kids.

Although a man of few words, my hardworking father not only raised his own kids, but also raised the three daughters of his widowed sister. We still can’t imagine our lives without him.

We have debated whether we should just move on without getting answers, or if we should go through the struggle to make a big corporation like American Airlines take responsibility for their actions. As our tears dry up, our determination to get answers has strengthened.

We have a message for Mr. Doug Parker, the CEO of American Airlines, and his leadership team: We are going to make sure your company is held accountable and none of your future customers suffer from your deadly negligence.

We are not going to let you off the hook by shrugging off the whole incident with a simple, “We apologize for the inconvenience.” Your customers’ lives are not inconveniences.

We will fight to make sure you understand this, and never, ever treat another customer the way you treated my father.