Son Sues American Airlines After Crew Allegedly Waited to Help Dying Father

John William Cannon, 62, a retired Air Force veteran, collapsed between flights during a layover in Dallas on April 28, 2023. He had flown from Louisville and was connecting to Durango, Colorado to attend a celebration of life. Despite losing consciousness while deplaning from his first flight, American Airlines cleared him to board his connection. His son Kyle filed a wrongful death lawsuit in April 2024 alleging that the crew of American Airlines Flight 4896 - operated by regional carrier Envoy Air - watched Cannon deteriorate through the flight, took no action while he slipped in and out of consciousness and labored to breathe, and waited until every other passenger had exited the plane before calling for medical help.

What Happened on the Flight

Passengers on the Durango-bound flight noticed Cannon’s distress, according to the lawsuit. The plane landed, taxied to the gate, and passengers deplaned one by one. First responders were called only after the last traveler walked off. Oxygen was administered on the scene. Cannon suffered cardiac arrest in the ambulance and was pronounced dead early the next morning at Mercy Medical Center in Durango. The plane carried a defibrillator and the crew had CPR training - neither was used, according to the lawsuit.

The Family’s Case

Kyle Cannon’s attorneys, Joseph LoRusso and Jessica McBryant, told PEOPLE: “The circumstances of this case represent a tangible manifestation of a corporate culture at American Airlines that prioritizes inaction over intervention.” Kyle told The Independent: “He should have been the first person off the plane, but he was the last person. It’s hard to believe that that could actually happen. But it did.” A nurse who cared for Cannon at the hospital reportedly told relatives the medics who brought him in seemed “traumatized” by how the situation had unfolded. American Airlines said it was “reviewing the complaint.” Kyle said: “We can’t bring him back, but if this could save somebody else’s life, that’s what he would want.”

References: Sick Passenger Died After American Airlines Flight Crew Allegedly Delayed Getting Help Until Other Passengers Left Plane: Lawsuit | Family of Air Force vet ‘left to die by American Airlines crew’ says ‘traumatized’ medics pushed them to sue after seeing how he was treated