Woman claims father might still be alive if airline had done more during 16-hour flight

The daughter of a man who died after becoming ill during a 16-hour flight has claimed he might still be alive if the plane landed earlier.

Harish Pant, 83, had been travelling from Delhi to Montreal in September on an Air Canada flight.

His daughter Shanu Pande had been looking forward to the flight, as it was the journey which would finally bring him from India to Canada after he obtained permanent residency status.

But around seven hours into the flight, she says her dad had begun experiencing chest and back pain, vomiting, and incontinence.

Air Canada flight AC051 departed from Delhi just after midnight local time, and was over Europe when Pant's symptoms began to manifest.

Pande said she begged the crew to land the plane so her dad could get to a hospital, saying she wished she had spoken to the pilot.

She told CBC: “He was deteriorating in front of my eyes," adding: “I should have banged on the cockpit. Why did he have to suffer like that?”

Speaking to Go Public, she said: "He was at the mercy of the pilot and Air Canada people. They were inhumane and callous."

Shanu Pande

The plane went directly to Montreal, where paramedics were waiting to meet Pant.

He died while they were working on him.

A spokesperson for Air Canada has offered its 'deepest sympathies' to Pant's family, but added that it "categorically rejects any assertions that it was responsible for the customer's death."

Retired cardiologist Dr Vicki Bernstein told CBC News: "I can't believe that the ground crew wouldn't have suggested that they divert."

Pande told Business Insider that members of the crew had tried to console her after her father had died, but she had rejected their sympathies.

“I told them to get away from me," she said, adding: “I said, ‘You said this was not a life-threatening emergency … but see what you have done to my dad'.”

Joan Valls/Urbanandsport /NurPhoto

She alleged that the crew had rejected her requests to land the plane somewhere in Europe, and that the plane was airborne for nine hours after her dad's symptoms began before arriving in Montreal.

Pant was reported to have died of 'presumed infarction', which is a kind of heart attack.

In a statement, Air Canada said: “We can confirm that throughout the flight in question Air Canada’s crew properly followed the procedures for dealing with onboard medical events and provided continuous care for the passenger, including relocating him to the business cabin so he could fully recline.

“The individual was conscious upon arrival, where we had arranged for paramedics to meet the aircraft.

“Unfortunately, shortly after arrival, the passenger passed away while being attended to by the paramedics.”

UNILAD has reached out to Air Canada for comment.

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