That good ol' Jetstar charm again

LES Turner was looking forward to a nice trip when be boarded a Jetstar flight to Singapore. Instead, the 86-year-old man died of a mid-air heart attack in the plane's toilet on the return journey to Darwin.

And a fellow passenger who worked frantically to save him was confronted with an attempt by the budget airline to double-charge her for a new flight when she tried to resume her journey.

Parliament has heard evidence "communications difficulties" were encountered when the nurse tried to raise the alarm with the foreign crew about Mr Turner's plight in the toilets.

But Jetstar maintains it is standard practice to ask if medical staff are on board to assist in emergencies and that the pilot was alerted and an ambulance on placed standby at the airport.

When the Sunday Herald Sun contacted him, Mr Turner's stepson, Terry Stanley, was appalled. "All I knew was that he had passed away in the toilet, and they didn't give any details other than that," Mr Stanley said. "If he was visibly in some sort of distress going into the toilet and the cabin crew were made aware of that, but failed to follow through with it, that just isn't good enough."

When told the passenger who had stepped in to assist had been asked to pay for another ticket after she sought medical assistance in Darwin for a bleeding nose and bloodshot eyes after performing CPR on his stepdad, Mr Stanley said: "It's pretty shabby."

Jetstar apologised over the attempt to double charge the nurse who tried to save Mr Turner's life. "An error was made in regards to her travel arrangements for the following day, which Jetstar sincerely apologises for," an airline spokesman said.

Jetstar also said: "All Jetstar cabin crew are competent in first aid. Cabin crew assisted the nurse in the delivery of oxygen to the passenger under her direction."

SOURCE