Mom sues American Airlines after son, 14, dies on board during medical emergency because ‘defibrillator was faulty’

The mother of a 14-year-old who died on a 2022 American Airlines flight has filed a lawsuit claiming he could have been saved without a “defective” defibrillator and an untrained flight crew.

Melissa Arzu, mother of the late Kevin Greenidge, filed the lawsuit in New York last year, but had to transfer the case to Fort Worth because that’s where the airline is headquartered.

It is alleged that a flight crew was slow to respond to a crisis that saw the teen go into cardiac arrest, even struggling to turn on the automated remote device immediately afterwards.

They also failed to deliver an electric shock intended to restore the boy’s heart rhythm, the suit said, effectively causing him to die on board.

The federal lawsuit further alleges that the defibrillator was defective — not “fully and properly charged” as the FAA demands. This, Arzu argues, “caused, permitted and/or hastened the untimely death of” her son, leaving her to pick up the pieces alone.

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“After Kevin’s death, I never heard from American Airlines again,” the 45-year-old said in a filmed interview after filing the new charges on Monday.

“It made me feel hopeless,” she continued from her apartment in the Bronx.

“I want answers from American Airlines. I want American Airlines to take full responsibility for this [his] dead.

“I never want this to happen to any child or family again.”

The lawsuit tells the rest of the story — albeit from its side — and how American allegedly failed to “ensure that the automated external defibrillator (AED) and mobile battery pack were fully and properly charged” before the flight from June 2022.

According to the complaint, the boy was traveling from Honduras to Miami with his uncle when he suddenly became ill, after which American Airlines flight crew failed to respond in a timely manner [his] medical emergency.’

In addition, they also allegedly failed to “move Greenidge from his window seat to the rear of the aircraft in a timely manner where assistance could be provided,” and also failed to “call for assistance from medically trained passengers on board ‘.

“When flight crews finally attempted to use the AED on Greenidge,” the mother’s attorneys wrote that “they were unable to operate the machine properly or the machine malfunctioned.”

Eyewitnesses reportedly added that “every time the AED gave a ‘clear’ warning to people to step back… so a shock could be delivered, no shock was delivered.”

“Instead, the machine simply continued to advise that CPR should continue.”

A subsequent analysis of airline records for AA Flight 614 ultimately found that “American Airlines flight crews were not trained in the use of the type of AED device carried” – a direct violation of federal law.

“If AA Flight 614 had been properly equipped with the necessary and functional medical equipment… and if the airline crew had responded to Greenidge’s medical emergency in a timely manner… [he] wouldn’t have experienced the intense… pain he [did]the lawsuit said.

In a statement to Insider in March, an American Airlines spokesperson said the airline was reviewing the details of the lawsuit, which has since been reassigned to the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas.

“Our thoughts are with Mrs. Greenidge and his loved ones,” the airline said at the time.

The lawsuit, meanwhile, asks for unspecified damages because the FAA has been federally required to have defibrillators on all passenger planes since 2004.

In fact, in 1997, American was the first U.S. commercial airline to install them on its planes, making painstaking efforts to train flight attendants in their use.

The devices are so important that if they are deemed missing or “non-functional” on a commercial aircraft, the aircraft simply will not be shipped, according to part of the FAA’s official website.

“Individual airlines should develop a protocol for the use of automated external defibrillators,” the agency wrote – adding that a “minimum” requirement for takeoff is “operative” deliberation.

This was not the case on June 2, 2022, Arzu argues — with her lawsuit further stating that “as a direct result of American Airlines’ actions and failures [that day]Greenidge died at the age of 14.”

Her attorney, Hannah Crowe, said in a video statement to DailyMail.com this week that while it took American months to even acknowledge her client’s misgivings, she is hopeful a jury will side with them.

“Texas juries are tough, but fair,” she said of the newly filed charges.

“Our jury is going to hear what happened to Kevin,” she added.

“They’re going to hear the facts of this case, and they’re going to be shocked that American Airlines would put its passengers, especially children, in this kind of danger.”

As she spoke, America was summoned to appear in Texas federal court.

The filing, issued Monday, has not yet elicited a response from the airline, which has 60 days to respond.

If this is not the case, a decision will be made in default on behalf of the carrier regarding the relief demanded in the complaint.

DailyMail.com has reached out to American for comment.