She was a newlywed and a nurse who was coming back home to continue her studies. But Brittany Oswell never made it to Columbia. 
 
 The 25-year-old Lexington woman died in a Texas hospital after suffering an embolism and going into cardiac arrest on an American Airlines flight from Honolulu. 
 
 Now Oswell's parents and widowed husband are suing the airline. Cory Oswell, Brittany's husband, and her parents, Christopher and Tina Starks, have filed a wrongful death lawsuit against American Airlines, according to their attorney Brad Cranshaw. 
 
 Brittany and Cory were flying from Hawaii, where he was stationed as part of his military service, to South Carolina, with a stop in Dallas-Fort Worth, on April 15, 2016. 
 
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 Somewhere over Los Angeles, Brittany began to feel ill, according to the lawsuit, which described her symptoms as dizziness and disorientation and said she was slurring her speech before fainting. 
 
 A doctor who was a passenger on the flight spoke to Brittany after she regained consciousness, according to the lawsuit. The doctor initially believed Brittany was having a panic attack, the lawsuit says. 
 
 Brittany Oswell Submitted by GRIER, COX & CRANSHAW, LLC 
 
 Between one and three hours later, when the flight was over Albuquerque, N.M., Brittany went to use the bathroom, where she was discovered lying on the floor having vomited and defecated on herself, according to the lawsuit. 
 
 When the doctor examined Brittany a second time, she "directed the flight attendants to inform the flight crew that it needed to divert the plane ... to the nearest airport, so Brittany could receive proper medical care," according to the lawsuit. 
 
 No landing was ever attempted, according to the lawsuit. 
 
 "The doctor asked to land the plane three times," Cranshaw said to The State Wednesday. "The doctor who was holding Brittany was begging them to land." 
 
 Cranshaw said it was at this time the doctor discovered that the medical equipment on the plane was not functioning. 
 
 
 
 
 
 When the doctor tried to take Brittany's blood pressure, one of the plane's cuffs didn't work and the other was broken, according to the lawsuit. 
 
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 Approximately 30 minutes after the doctor first asked for an emergency landing, the flight's captain "summoned the doctor to the flight deck," but continued on to Dallas-Fort Worth, which was 90 minutes away at that time, according to the lawsuit. 
 
 Approximately 5 minutes after the doctor returned from the cockpit, Brittany stopped breathing and her pulse stopped, according to the lawsuit, adding that the doctor attempted to use a defibrillator but no shock was administered despite three attempts. 
 
 The doctor and flight attendants administered CPR, but Brittany never regained consciousness on the flight or thereafter, the lawsuit says. 
 
 Brittany was taken to Baylor Medical Center, where she was diagnosed with brain damage and an embolism, according to the lawsuit. 
 
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 On April 18, a doctor diagnosed Brittany with no brain activity, and she was removed from life support and declared dead, according to the lawsuit, which listed her cause of death as acute massive pulmonary embolism and cardiogenic shock. 
 
 "When Brittany got on the plane, she stepped into her coffin," Cranshaw said. "It's a tragedy." 
 
 American Airlines issued a statement to wbtv.com saying, "We take the safety of our passengers very seriously and we are looking into the details of the complaint." 
 
 Brittany's family accuses American Airlines of negligence, according to the lawsuit. They are seeking damages in an amount to be determined by a jury for severe emotional distress, anxiety, grief, and sorrow. 
 
 "What can we do to right this?" Cranshaw asked. "Cory has no wife, and Christopher and Tina are left without their daughter." 
 
 Cranshaw said American Airlines had not answered the lawsuit as of Wednesday afternoon. He was not aware if there was any investigation by the airline or the FAA. 
 
 
 
 
 
 Cranshaw said he expects a jury trial to begin in a year to 18 months. He added that the doctor who was a passenger on the plane is not named in the lawsuit, but he plans to call her as a witness. 
 
 Cranshaw said the main issues he will address at a trial are, "the doctor begged the pilot to land, and there was broken equipment on the plane." ||||| CLOSE A family is suing American Airlines after they allegedly mishandled medical care on a 2016 flight. The New York Daily News notes that Brittany Oswell and her husband were on a South Carolina Bound flight from Hawaii when she began having complications. Buzz60 
 
 An American Airlines plane sits at a gate at Chicago O'Hare airport on March 7, 2018. (Photo: DANIEL SLIM, AFP/Getty Images) 
 
 The parents and widower of a South Carolina newlywed who died during an American Airlines flight sued the carrier, alleging wrongful death. 
 
 Brittany Oswell, 25, of Lexington, S.C., suffered a pulmonary embolism and cardiac arrest during a flight in April 2016 from Hawaii to South Carolina, with a connection in Dallas, according to the case filed in U.S. District Court. She was declared brain dead three days after the flight and taken off life-support equipment at Baylor Medical Center, the lawsuit states. 
 
 The lawsuit alleges that medical equipment aboard the plane didn’t work and that the crew ignored pleas from a doctor, who tried to help Oswell, to make an emergency landing before reaching Dallas. 
 
 "When Brittany got on the plane, she stepped into her coffin," Brad Cranshaw, a lawyer representing the woman’s husband, Cory Oswell, and parents, Christopher and Tina Starks, told The State newspaper. "It's a tragedy." 
 
 The airline hasn’t formally responded to the 12-page lawsuit filed April 18, but the company issued a statement: "We take the safety of our passengers very seriously, and we are looking into the details of the complaint." 
 
 Medical emergencies occur about once every 604 flights, according to a study in 2013 in The New England Journal of Medicine of 11,920 emergencies from 2008 to 2010. The most common ailments were loss of consciousness, respiratory problems, nausea or vomiting. 
 
 Physician passengers provided assistance in nearly half (48%) of the emergencies, according to the study. Flights diverted for emergency landings in 7.3% of cases, according to the study. 
 
 “Few in-flight medical emergencies resulted in diversion of aircraft or death; one-fourth of passengers who had an in-flight medical emergency underwent additional evaluation in a hospital,” the study said. 
 
 The Federal Aviation Administration requires airliners to carry lifesaving equipment, including an automated defibrillator to shock a person’s heart back into regular rhythm, CPR masks to assist breathing and an IV set to administer medicine. The emergency medical kit should contain aspirin, dextrose for diabetics, epinephrine for allergic reactions and nitroglycerine for heart problems. 
 
 Flight attendants are trained in CPR. Congress approved legislation in 1998 to protect Good Samaritans aboard flights from lawsuits if they help an ill passenger. 
 
 The lawsuit for Oswell alleges a series of problems aboard the American Airlines flight. 
 
 About three hours after departing Honolulu, Oswell became dizzy and disoriented. Her husband paged flight attendants, who heard her slurring her speech before she fainted. 
 
 A doctor on board examined Oswell, and she regained consciousness. The doctor initially thought she had a panic attack and didn’t administer oxygen. 
 
 A couple of hours later, Oswell went to a lavatory, where she collapsed, vomited and defecated on herself. 
 
 The doctor was summoned again, and he urged the crew to land at the nearest airport for medical care, according to the lawsuit. 
 
 Flight attendants brought Oswell to the galley, where she received oxygen. The doctor tried to take Oswell’s blood pressure, but one cuff registered an error and the other was broken, according to the lawsuit. 
 
 Oswell’s pulse stopped, and the doctor and flight attendants tried to apply the defribrillator, but no shock was administered despite three attempts, according to the lawsuit. 
 
 The doctors and flight attendants took turns administering cardio-pulmonary resuscitation. 
 
 The flight didn’t divert and landed in Dallas about two hours after the lavatory incident, according to the lawsuit. 
 
 “We absolutely felt like this was not taken very seriously,” Tina Starks told ABC News. “She’s no longer here to do anything with us, and it’s all because someone made a business decision to keep flying a plane when she needed emergency medical help that they could not provide because of inadequacies on board the flight." 
 
 Read or Share this story: https://usat.ly/2Hz3y6V ||||| The family of a South Carolina woman who died after suffering a medical emergency midflight is now suing American Airlines alleging wrongful death. 
 
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 Brittany Oswell, 25, suffered an embolism while flying from Honolulu, Hawaii to Dallas, Texas two years ago. The lawsuit claims the flight crew never attempted to make an emergency landing and that the onboard medical equipment was faulty. 
 
 The lawsuit claims Oswell’s husband, Cory, paged the flight attendants on American Flight 102 about three hours into the trip after she became “dizzy and disoriented” and then fainted. The flight attendants then found a doctor among the other passengers who could further examine Oswell, who at that point was believed to have suffered a panic attack, according to the lawsuit. 
 
 Oswell Family Handout 
 
 Several hours later, the flight attendants found Oswell on the floor of one of the plane’s lavatories after her husband flagged them down, according to the lawsuit. She had vomited and defecated on herself in the lavatory, the lawsuit states, and the attendants and her husband proceeded to “render assistance.” 
 
 The lawsuit alleges that the doctor on the flight told the crew they needed to immediately divert the plane to the nearest airport so that Oswell could receive proper medical care. But with about 90 minutes left until their arrival in Dallas and after a call with a physician who was not on board, the pilots chose not to follow the doctor’s request, according to the lawsuit. 
 
 At some point, Oswell’s breathing and pulse stopped, the lawsuit states. The doctor and flight attendants attempted to use a defibrillator on Oswell three times, but the lawsuit claims “no shock was administered.” The two blood pressure cuffs on the plane also failed, according to the lawsuit. The flight crew, after again consulting the on-call physician not on board, decided to continue to Dallas with about 45 minutes left until arrival, the lawsuit states. 
 
 Those assisting Oswell performed CPR on her for the remainder of the trip, according to the lawsuit. 
 
 Oswell was transported to Baylor Medical Center, where she was diagnosed with anoxic brain damage and an acute embolism, the lawsuit states. She never regained consciousness after her pulse stopped on the flight and was taken off life support on April 18, 2016, three days after being admitted to the hospital, according to the lawsuit. 
 
 Daniel Slim/AFP/Getty Images, FILE 
 
 Tina Starks, Oswell’s mother, told ABC News she believes American Airlines should have diverted the flight as soon as Oswell was observed in a distressed state. 
 
 “We absolutely felt like this was not taken very seriously,” Starks said. “She’s no longer here to do anything with us and it’s all because someone made a business decision to keep flying a plane when she needed emergency medical help that they could not provide because of inadequacies on board the flight." 
 
 “One person makes a decision and it changes our whole life, our outcome, everything,” said Chris Starks, Oswell’s father. 
 
 American Airlines, in a statement to ABC News about the lawsuit, said: "We take the safety of our passengers very seriously and we are looking into the details of the complaint."
– The parents and husband of a South Carolina nurse who died on a flight from Honolulu to Dallas have filed a wrongful death suit against American Airlines, reports ABC News. Brittany Oswell, 25, suffered a pulmonary embolism and cardiac arrest during the April 2016 flight, according to the lawsuit, per USA Today. The suit alleges that an onboard defibrillator and two blood pressure cuffs were faulty and that the plane should have made an emergency landing. About three hours into the trip, Oswell’s husband, Cory, paged flight attendants when Oswell complained of dizziness and then fainted. Flight attendants found a doctor onboard who examined Oswell. The doctor initially believed that Oswell had experienced a panic attack. A few hours later, Oswell’s condition worsened and the doctor recommended that the flight be diverted. But by that time, the flight was 90 minutes away from Dallas and the pilots elected to continue the flight. Later, Oswell stopped breathing and the doctor attempted to resuscitate her, but the plane’s lifesaving equipment was not functioning, the suit says. After landing in Dallas, Oswell was transported to Baylor Medical Center, but never regained consciousness. Three days later, she was taken off life support. "When Brittany got on the plane, she stepped into her coffin," Brad Cranshaw, the family’s lawyer, tells the State. "It's a tragedy." American Airlines, which has not yet answered the lawsuit, issued the following statement: "We take the safety of our passengers very seriously and we are looking into the details of the complaint."