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Grieving daughter says father might still be alive if Air Canada had diverted long-haul flight

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Shanu Pande says she had been looking forward to the trip for years — a flight that would bring her father to Canada from India after he finally obtained permanent residency status.

But the September trip took a sharp turn when Harish Pant, 83, developed severe medical symptoms: chest pain, back pain, vomiting, loss of bowel control and the inability to stand up.

“He was deteriorating in front of my eyes,” said Pande, who was accompanying her father.

Flight AC051 had left Delhi shortly after midnight local time. When Pant’s symptoms started seven hours later, it was over Europe. Pande says she pleaded with the cabin crew to divert the plane and land in order to get her father to a hospital.

Instead, the flight stayed on course for nine more hours, travelling over Ireland, across the Atlantic Ocean and Eastern Canada before touching ground in Montreal. Paramedics were waiting — but Pant died as they worked on him.

“I was very hysterical,” said Pande. “My mind was gone at this point.”

Her father was officially pronounced dead at a Montreal hospital from a “presumed infarction” — dead heart tissue.

Two months later, Pande says the piercing grief has given way to anger.

“He was at the mercy of the pilot and Air Canada people,” she told Go Public. “They were inhumane and callous.”

 

Family questions why Air Canada didn’t divert flight during medical emergency | Go Public

 

Featured VideoAn Ontario woman is demanding answers from Air Canada after her father had a medical emergency during a flight, but the plane wasn’t diverted. Instead, the flight continued for another nine hours and he died shortly after landing.

Air Canada declined an on-camera interview request.

In an email to Go Public, spokesperson Peter Fitzpatrick wrote that Air Canada extends its deepest sympathies to Pant’s family, but also “categorically rejects any assertions that it was responsible for the customer’s death.”

The airline’s crew “properly followed the procedures” for dealing with onboard medical emergencies, wrote Fitzpatrick. When asked, he declined to explain the procedures.

A south Asian man and woman sit smiling on opposites sides of a small round table.
Harish Pant waits with family member Saroj Pande at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport before their flight to Montreal on Sept. 10. (Submitted by Shanu Pande)

Fitzpatrick also said reports from the crew differed “in several important respects” from that of his family, regarding the timing of events and how the situation was handled.

Trying to figure out how often in-flight medical emergencies occur on Canadian flights — and what determines whether an airline will divert a plane — can be like flying through thick fog without radar.

No consensus exists among airlines regarding what defines an in-flight emergency. There is no mandatory reporting when a plane diverts for a medical emergency, nor any requirement to make public why decisions to reroute are made.

“There’s too many people keeping information close to their chests,” said Dr. Shahbaz Syed, an emergency physician at Ottawa Hospital and senior editor of a blog and podcast for the University of Ottawa’s department of emergency medicine.

“The data we have available to us is quite limited.”

Experts say in-flight medical emergencies are expected to increase as airline passenger traffic rebounds from the pandemic, long-haul flights become more common and the passenger population ages.  Airlines don’t share the cost of diverting a plane, though an article in the Canadian Medical Association Journal said the price tag could climb to almost $900,000. Today, that stat appears to be almost three decades old.

An aged south Asian man and a south Asian woman sit on a bench on a busy train platform. The woman has her right arm around the man.
Harish Pant sits with his daughter, Pande, at a train station in Delhi in 2014. (Submitted by Shanu Pande)

‘I’m having severe chest pain’

Pande says, as part of getting his permanent residency, her father had been deemed to be in good health just a few months earlier. He was in good spirits before he, Pande and her mother-in-law boarded the plane at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport.

Seven hours later, Pant jolted awake, says his daughter.

“He’s saying, ‘I’m having severe chest pain,'” Pande recounted, demonstrating how her father was clutching his chest over his heart.

Pande says she immediately rushed to get the attention of crew members. When they came back to his seat, Pande says Pant’s face had drooped on one side, he had lost control of his bowels and felt extremely weak.

An aged white woman with a black bob and blue cardigan sits in her living room
Retired cardiologist Dr. Vicki Bernstein says Pant was experiencing a ‘major medical emergency’ and she’s surprised Air Canada didn’t divert the plane. (Erica Johnson/CBC)

As they took him to the washroom in a wheelchair, Pande asked the chief flight attendant to reroute the plane to a nearby city so Pant could get medical attention.

When they emerged from the washroom 40 minutes later, there was still no decision to divert.

Pant and his daughter were moved to business class so he could lay flat.

‘Not life-threatening’

Fitzpatrick says the crew made “repeated pages” for a passenger with medical training to come forward — but no one did.

Pande says a crew member only made those announcements after her mother-in-law insisted.

Meanwhile, the pilot was speaking with Phoenix-based MedAire, a third-party medical provider used by over 180 airlines, according to the company.

Fitzpatrick says MedAire lets the crew to talk with doctors familiar with the challenges of practising medicine on a plane “to evaluate the passenger and devise a care plan.”

A south Asian woman sits on the edge of a bed with her hand on a closed suitcase standing on the floor.
Pande sits with her father’s suitcase, still full of his belongings. ‘That’s the only thing that is left of him,’ she said. ‘I don’t want to lose that.’ (Cole Burston/CBC)

Go Public has learned that in the case of an in-flight medical emergency on Air Canada, the chief flight attendant fills out a checklist that is given to the pilot, who then discusses the case with a MedAire physician.

The airline would not tell Go Public what the checklist said in Pant’s case. His daughter says she doesn’t remember seeing anyone fill out a form about her father.

Once the plane was over Ireland — the last possible stop before the Atlantic Ocean — Pande says she again urgently asked the crew to change course. Her father now had severe back ache and was throwing up.

She was told the plane would continue to Montreal because Pant’s condition was deemed “not life-threatening.”

“I was shocked,” said Pande. “I said, ‘Why are you not diverting the plane? Do you see his condition?'”

Pande says she became frantic. She asked to speak with the pilot herself, but was denied.

 

Grieving daughter voices dismay to Air Canada flight crew

 

Featured VideoShanu Pande’s father died after suffering for hours on a long-haul flight. She describes her interaction with the Air Canada flight crew after the flight landed.

Go Public asked Air Canada how the decision to stay on course was made.

Fitzpatrick, the spokesperson, said he was unable to provide that information. He said the crew “provided continuous care,” including offering him Aspirin. But Pande says her father was allergic, so she gave him a dose of her mother-in-law’s Sorbitrate — a drug used to manage severe chest pain.

Fitzpatrick said when medical experts recommend an aircraft be diverted, Air Canada will do so “without hesitation” and that diversions happen approximately 40 times a year. This year, the airline will operate about 178,000 flights.

MedAire spokesperson Chris Potter said he couldn’t comment on the case due to client privacy reasons. In a statement to Go Public, Potter wrote that his company handles 60,000 in-flight emergencies globally each year and that of those cases, fewer than two per cent result in a diversion.

Two Air Canada jetliners sit on a runaway. A man walks in front of them.
Air Canada says it ‘categorically rejects any assertions that it was responsible for the customer’s death.’ (Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press)

Major emergency

Go Public contacted five physicians — two family doctors, two emergency room physicians and a cardiologist.

All five said Pant’s symptoms indicated a serious cardiac event.

“This is a major medical emergency,” said Vancouver cardiologist Dr. Vicki Bernstein, who practised for 40 years before retiring two years ago. “I can’t believe that [MedAire] wouldn’t have suggested that they divert.”

The others also said they would have suggested a diversion.

“It’s very important to get them [to a hospital] as quickly as possible,” said Bernstein. “Open the chest, stop the bleeding or whatever is happening.”

Pande says she understands her father might still not have survived if he had gotten earlier medical attention on the ground, but says he was robbed of that chance.

‘I should have banged on the cockpit’

Pande says once the decision had been made that the flight would not be diverted, she was pretty much left alone to care for her dad.

Syed, a doctor who’s been pressed into service on a plane, said it’s critical to keep passengers apprised of what decisions are being made in the cockpit, and why.

“If I have a heart attack or something on a plane, I do want to know how the information is being given to the pilot,” said Syed. “You can’t really keep someone in the dark as it pertains to their own health.”

In the weeks since Pant’s death, Pande’s husband has penned emails to his MP and to Minister of Transport Pablo Rodriguez, describing what happened and calling for the resignation of several top airline employees.

Pande says she, too, wants to fight for justice — and is also fighting regret.

“I should have banged on the cockpit,” she said. “Why did he have to suffer like that?”

The family is pursuing a lawsuit against Air Canada.

Submit your story ideas

Go Public is an investigative news segment on CBC-TV, radio and the web.

We tell your stories, shed light on wrongdoing and hold the powers that be accountable.

If you have a story in the public interest, or if you’re an insider with information, contact gopublic@cbc.ca with your name, contact information and a brief summary. All emails are confidential until you decide to Go Public.

 

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Abortion rights advocates win in 7 states and clear way to overturn Missouri ban but lose in 3

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November 6, 2024

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WASHINGTON (AP) — Voters in Missouri cleared the way to undo one of the nation’s most restrictive abortion bans in one of seven victories for abortion rights advocates, while Florida, Nebraska and South Dakota defeated similar constitutional amendments, leaving bans in place.

Abortion rights amendments also passed in Arizona, Colorado, Maryland and Montana. Nevada voters also approved an amendment, but they’ll need to pass it again it 2026 for it to take effect. Another that bans discrimination on the basis of “pregnancy outcomes” prevailed in New York.

The results include firsts for the abortion landscape, which underwent a seismic shift in 2022 when the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, a ruling that ended a nationwide right to abortion and cleared the way for bans to take effect in most Republican-controlled states.

They also came in the same election that Republican Donald Trump won the presidency. Among his inconsistent positions on abortion has been an insistence that it’s an issue best left to the states. Still, the president can have a major impact on abortion policy through executive action.

In the meantime, Missouri is positioned to be the first state where a vote will undo a ban on abortion at all stages of pregnancy, with an amendment that would allow lawmakers to restrict abortions only past the point of a fetus’ viability — usually considered after 21 weeks, although there’s no exact defined time frame.

But the ban, and other restrictive laws, are not automatically repealed. Advocates now have to ask courts to overturn laws to square with the new amendment.

“Today, Missourians made history and sent a clear message: decisions around pregnancy, including abortion, birth control, and miscarriage care are personal and private and should be left up to patients and their families, not politicians,” Rachel Sweet, campaign manager of Missourians for Constitutional Freedom, said in a statement.

Roughly half of Missouri’s voters said abortion should be legal in all or most cases, according to AP VoteCast, a survey of more than 2,200 of the state’s voters. But only about 1 in 10 said abortion should be illegal in all cases; nearly 4 in 10 said abortion should be illegal in most cases.

Bans remain in place in three states after votes

Florida, Nebraska and South Dakota became the first states since Roe was overturned where abortion opponents prevailed on a ballot measure. Most voters supported the Florida measure, but it fell short of the required 60% to pass constitutional amendments in the state. Most states require a simple majority.

The result was a political win for Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican with a national profile, who had steered state GOP funds to the cause. His administration has weighed in, too, with a campaign against the measure, investigators questioning people who signed petitions to add it to the ballot and threats to TV stations that aired one commercial supporting it.

Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the national anti-abortion group SBA Pro-Life America, said in a statement that the result is “a momentous victory for life in Florida and for our entire country,” praising DeSantis for leading the charge against the measure.

The defeat makes permanent a shift in the Southern abortion landscape that began when the state’s six-week ban took effect in May. That removed Florida as a destination for abortion for many women from nearby states with deeper bans and also led to far more women from the state traveling to obtain abortion. The nearest states with looser restrictions are North Carolina and Virginia — hundreds of miles away.

“The reality is because of Florida’s constitution a minority of Florida voters have decided Amendment 4 will not be adopted,” said Lauren Brenzel, campaign director for the Yes on 4 Campaign said while wiping away tears. “The reality is a majority of Floridians just voted to end Florida’s abortion ban.”

In South Dakota, another state with a ban on abortion throughout pregnancy with some exceptions, the defeat of an abortion measure was more decisive. It would have allowed some regulations related to the health of the woman after 12 weeks. Because of that wrinkle, most national abortion-rights groups did not support it.

Voters in Nebraska adopted a measure that allows more abortion restrictions and enshrines the state’s current 12-week ban and rejected a competing measure that would have ensured abortion rights.

Other states guaranteed abortion rights

Arizona’s amendment will mean replacing the current law that bans abortion after the first 15 weeks of pregnancy. The new measure ensures abortion access until viability. A ballot measure there gained momentum after a state Supreme Court ruling in April found that the state could enforce a strict abortion ban adopted in 1864. Some GOP lawmakers joined with Democrats to repeal the law before it could be enforced.

In Maryland, the abortion rights amendment is a legal change that won’t make an immediate difference to abortion access in a state that already allows it.

It’s a similar situation in Montana, where abortion is already legal until viability.

The Colorado measure exceeded the 55% of support required to pass. Besides enshrining access, it also undoes an earlier amendment that barred using state and local government funding for abortion, opening the possibility of state Medicaid and government employee insurance plans covering care.

A New York equal rights law that abortion rights group say will bolster abortion rights also passed. It doesn’t contain the word “abortion” but rather bans discrimination on the basis of “pregnancy outcomes, and reproductive healthcare and autonomy.” Sasha Ahuja, campaign director of New Yorkers for Equal Rights, called the result “a monumental victory for all New Yorkers” and a vote against opponents who she says used misleading parental rights and anti-trans messages to thwart the measure.

The results end a win streak for abortion-rights advocates

Until Tuesday, abortion rights advocates had prevailed on all seven measures that have appeared on statewide ballots since the fall of Roe.

The abortion rights campaigns have a big fundraising advantage this year. Their opponents’ efforts are focused on portraying the amendments as too extreme rather than abortion as immoral.

Currently, 13 states are enforcing bans at all stages of pregnancy, with some exceptions. Four more bar abortion in most cases after about six weeks of pregnancy — before women often realize they’re pregnant. Despite the bans, the number of monthly abortions in the U.S. has risen slightly, because of the growing use of abortion pills and organized efforts to help women travel for abortion. Still, advocates say the bans have reduced access, especially for lower-income and minority residents of the states with bans.

The issue is resonating with voters. About one-fourth said abortion policy was the single most important factor for their vote, according to AP VoteCast, a sweeping survey of more than 110,000 voters nationwide. Close to half said it was an important factor, but not the most important. Just over 1 in 10 said it was a minor factor.

The outcomes of ballot initiatives that sought to overturn strict abortion bans in Florida and Missouri were very important to a majority of voters in the states. More than half of Florida voters identified the result of the amendment as very important, while roughly 6 in 10 of Missouri’s voters said the same, the survey found.

___

Associated Press reporters Hannah Fingerhut and Amanda Seitz contributed to this article.

___

This article has been corrected to reflect in the ‘other states’ section that Montana, not Missouri, currently allows abortion until viability.



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South Korea fights deepfake porn with tougher punishment and regulation

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November 6, 2024

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SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea on Wednesday announced a package of steps to curb a surge in deepfake porn, saying it will toughen punishment for offenders, expand the use of undercover officers and impose greater regulations on social media platforms.

Concerns about nonconsensual explicit video contents that were digitally manipulated deepened in South Korea after unconfirmed lists of schools with victims spread online in August. Terrified, many girls and women removed photos and videos from Instagram, Facebook and other social media accounts, while others held rallies calling for stronger steps against deepfake porn.

President Yoon Suk Yeol quickly confirmed the rapid spread of explicit deepfake contents and ordered officials to “root out these digital sexual crimes.” Police are now on a seven-month special crackdown that is to continue until March 2025.

A task force said in a statement that the government has been working with lawmakers on revising laws to increase punishment for perpetrators involved in deepfake porn-related crimes.

It cited a recently amended law that for the first time makes acts of watching or possessing deepfake porn illegal and punishable with up to three years in prison. The maximum punishment for those who produce or distribute deepfake porn contents was increased from five to seven years in prison.

Police have so far detained 506 suspects this year, 411 of them aged between 10 and 19.

The task force said it’ll push for undercover online investigations, even in cases when victims are adults. The law currently authorizes such methods only when victims are minors. The government also plans another revision that would allow authorities to confiscate profits made through deepfake porn businesses.

The task force said it will push to impose a fine on social media platforms more aggressively when they fail to prevent the spread of deepfake and other illegal contents. It said South Korea will plan to increase monitors on social media platforms to 26, from the current 12.

The task force will also expand mandatory educational programs on digital sex crimes at schools, and produce related public awareness videos with celebrities popular with teens and young people in their 20s.

Most suspected perpetrators in deepfake porn cases in South Korea are teenage boys. Observers say the boys target female friends, relatives and acquaintances — also mostly minors — as a prank, out of curiosity or misogyny.

The deepfake porn issue in South Korea has raised serious questions about school programs but also threatened to worsen an already troubled divide between men and women.

The prevalence of deepfake porn in the country has been attributed to a mix of factors, experts say, including heavy use of smartphones, an absence of comprehensive sex and human rights education in schools, inadequate social media regulations for minors, and also misogyny and social norms that sexually objectify women.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.



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Tesla shares soar 14% as Trump win sets stage for Elon Musk’s electric vehicle company

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November 6, 2024

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NEW YORK (AP) — Shares of Tesla soared Wednesday following an election that will send Donald Trump back to the White House, an outcome that has been strongly backed by CEO Elon Musk in the closing months of the race.

Tesla stands to make significant gains under a Trump administration due to its size, with the expectation that subsidies for alternative energy and electric vehicles will be threatened.

While that would be a negative overall for the industry, it could give Tesla an advantage because of market share. Shares of rival electric vehicles sank sharply Wednesday.

Tesla shares jumped 14% at the opening bell.

Trump has proposed tariffs of 10% to 20% on foreign goods that would also impact electric vehicle maker’s outside the U.S., especially in China.

“Tesla has the scale and scope that is unmatched,” said Wedbush analyst Dan Ives, in a note to investors. “This dynamic could give Musk and Tesla a clear competitive advantage in a non-EV subsidy environment, coupled by likely higher China tariffs that would continue to push away cheaper Chinese EV players.”

Shares of rival EV maker Rivian plunged 8% and Lucid Group fell 4%. China-based NIO slid 5.3%.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.



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