When I first heard about Theresa Hines being dragged unconscious and half naked off American Airline Flight 2423, I was immediately struck by the similarity to the incident involving a United Airlines passenger dragged unconscious from an oversold flight a few months prior. However after investigating I’ve found the Hines matter isn’t at all like the incident with UA; it’s much worse.
Theresa Hines was not dragged “unconscious” from her flight. She was dead. She died after being neglected by American Airline employees for up to an hour while she suffered a medical emergency in the restroom of the Boeing 757. Every decision the Airline made since discovering Hines unresponsive in the restroom has been in its own interest and without regard for the dignity of Hines or her family.
On June 16, 2017, Theresa Hines boarded American Airlines flight 2423 with service to Minneapolis-St. Paul from Dallas-Fort. Worth International. Hines was traveling to a customer service conference for work. At 12:01 PM she fired off a gif to her husband letting him know she was ready for take off. In their exchange you get a glimpse at how close they were:
Theresa: Taking off! 
✈️
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Husband: Awesome Hope you have a great flight!
Theresa: Me too 
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Husband: I love you my Queen
Theresa: I love you too Puddin
Husband: Thank you
At some point in the flight Hines left her seat and entered the lavatory located in the back galley of the plane. She properly latched the lavatory door, automatically illuminating a bright neon “OCCUPIED” sign on the exterior wall. Flight attendants must keep an eye on this “OCCUPIED” notification because the enclosed lavatory is the most vulnerable area of the plane. Passengers enter the lavatory and disappear from public view. Once in the secluded area passengers may have access to wires, pipes and sometimes oxygen tanks in the interior of the aircraft. They may violate TSA regulations by smoking or engaging in lewd behavior. They may suffer a medical emergency and need help. This is all anticipated so flight attendants are trained to not allow extended periods of time to lapse without checking on occupants (no more than 10 minutes).
While in the lavatory Ms. Hines suffered a medical emergency and lost consciousness. She remained unconscious and unattended in the lavatory for 10…20…30…45 minutes to an hour according to flight attendants on board. For up to an hour she was denied critical care that may have saved her life. For up to an hour her heart slowed to a stop and failed to pump blood to her vital organs. Her brain was deprived of oxygen and ceased to function. Her body began shutting down on itself. For up to an hour she sat completely abandoned in the bathroom stall and died.
By the time she was discovered it was too late. Volunteers who checked her vital signs found her completely unresponsive. She didn’t respond to mouth to mouth resuscitation. She was unresponsive to over twenty minutes of CPR. Her heart gave no response to an electric shock delivered by AED. She was dead.
American Airlines failed passenger Theresa Hines. Flight attendants failed to take note of the neon “OCCUPIED” sign burning for 45 minutes to an hour. Passengers were directed to other restrooms. Employees petaled overpriced snacks and personalized alcoholic beverages for an hour while Hines was dying in the lavatory.
To add insult to injury, after a medical doctor on board suspended the, then futile, rescue efforts, after all passengers were told to return to their seats and prepare for landing, employees left Hines body in the condition they found it; uncovered, pants down to her ankles. Not offering her the respect and dignity in death that their failure to pay attention robbed her of in life. EMTs dragged her exposed lifeless body down the aisle, nude from the waist down in full view of horrified passengers, because thats how they found her.
Following this episode American Airlines immediately focused it full efforts on serving its top priority, itself.
The Dallas based company located less than 35 miles from the Hines family home, didn’t dispatch a representative from corporate leadership to meet with the family, didn’t bother to reassure the family of their commitment to transparency, didn’t even call to express their condolences or provide basic information about the mysterious death of their 48 year old love one. They attended to the media and PR concerns. They prepared a statement praising themselves for their professionalism. Days later a customer service representative reached out to the family to inform them the Airline could not answer any of their questions and all the information they had could be found on social media. From start to end, American Airlines as acted as if Theresa Hines life didn’t matter.
Lee Merritt