Today there was a settlement in a strange case of the death of lady at Phoenix airport in 2007. Mrs Carol Gotbaum died while in police custody at Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport. Carol was arrested after she supposedly became unruly when she missed a connecting flight to Tucson, Arizona for substance-abuse rehabilitation program. While in an airport holding cell police said Carol accidentally asphyxiated herself after being chained to a bench.The medical examiner ruled that Carol was taking antidepressants & died when she accidentally strangled herself with her shackles. The report says Carol suffered from alcoholism & depression. The family settled with the airport & the city for $250,000. This was a very sad case & I wonder what lessons can be learned from this.
For starters, the airport authorities have a lot of responsibility looking out for terrorism & unruly passenger that may be a threat to the aircraft or passengers. I see on a daily basis unruly passengers incidents. On my last flight I prevented a fight from breaking out.I also realize that some of these unruly passengers are genuine good people who maybe suffering a mental health issue such as bipolar, or obsessive compulsive disorder. Airport workers have no means of knowing each individual situation unless a family member informs the airline in advanced. It would be a good idea for someone to even travel with that person to help avoid dangerous mishaps like this case. Some airlines may put a special sticker on some people who may need meet & assist services on arrival. This alerts other crew members & airport workers that the individual have special needs. Its very similar to having a handicap decal. This sad case also brings to mind another deadly incident out of Miami, Florida several years ago when a person with bipolar ran through the airplane threating to blow it up right before push back. Their was Federal Air marshals on the plane that took the man as a threat & killed him.The Air Marshals were cleared from this incident, but this drives home the fact that the airlines must know of any passengers special needs regarding mental health.