A tragic incident unfolded aboard a long-haul flight when a Department of Defense employee passed away mid-journey due to alleged mishandling by the cabin crew. The lawsuit claims that during the flight, crew members failed to correctly attach an oxygen mask to its tank and did not offer essential guidance on using a defibrillator, which could have been life-saving.
Porscha Tynisha Brown, aged 33, was traveling with friends from Washington, DC, to Seoul, South Korea. Their Korea Air flight took a dramatic turn 12 hours into the 15.5-hour journey when Brown experienced a sudden medical emergency and collapsed, causing panic among the passengers.
In the midst of this crisis, Brown’s companions, along with other passengers, rushed to her aid. However, according to the lawsuit accessed by the Independent, flight attendants were seen alternating between panic and passive observation, rather than taking decisive action. They did provide an oxygen mask, but the crucial step of connecting it to the oxygen supply was reportedly overlooked.
The aircraft made an emergency landing in Osaka, Japan. Sadly, Brown, who worked as a civilian employee for the Department of Defense, was pronounced dead, with the cause listed as “acute cardiac failure” in her death report.
It was only after the emergency landing that Brown’s friends learned the oxygen mask had not been connected to the tank, as per the lawsuit. This oversight meant that, despite the desperate efforts of those around her, Brown never received the supplemental oxygen she needed from the equipment supplied by Korean Air personnel.
“Consequently, during the frantic attempts by passengers to save Ms. Brown’s life, Ms. Brown never received supplemental oxygen from the oxygen tank provided by Korean Air flight personnel.”
If the crew had followed its own protocols, Brown “would not have experienced intense physical and emotional pain before dying at the age of 33,” the complaint, filed on March 24, says.
Brown, who had been feeling fine, had gotten up to use the bathroom during the March 24, 2025, flight. Moments later, a flight attendant asked if there was a doctor on board as a commotion erupted in the back of the plane.
Brown’s friends ran to the back and found her sprawled on the ground gasping for air and clutching her chest, repeatedly saying, “I can’t breathe.”
Crew members handed Brown an oxygen mask to place over her face. Her friends believed she was receiving the vital air, but Brown’s “belabored breathing continued and she continued to indicate… that she could not breathe” before she went unconscious.
Passenger volunteers gave Brown a shot of epinephrine, which did not help, and crew members brought over a defibrillator. But while the crew members were all trained in how to use the life-saving device, none of them provided instructions to passengers, according to the complaint.
“The passengers, who were not trained on the… machine, did not know that they needed to press the ‘shock’ button to administer a shock. Consequently, no lifesaving shock was administered to Ms. Brown,” the suit says.
After Brown was declared dead in Japan, her grieving friends had to figure out how to get her body back to the US.
Korean Air’s crew violated company policy by not rendering effective aid and waited too long to declare a medical emergency, according to the complaint.
“She was at the beginning of her young adulthood, and was a really accomplished and beloved member of her community,” attorney Hannah Crowe, who is representing Brown’s estate in the suit, told The Independent.
Brown’s family is seeking damages from Korean Air, to be determined by a jury.
