I was on a flight to Baltimore in October 2006 during which we had two emergencies in the air. On both occasions, the stewardess asked if there was a doctor on the flight and several responded before I could get out of my seat so I was an observer. We landed at Kansas City to disembark one ill passenger and then landed again to disembark the other. My non-stop flight turned into a day-long marathon but both passengers survived although I’m not sure that both situations were life threatening. That was a Southwest Airlines flight and the situations were handled efficiently.The passenger on an American Airlines flight from Haiti was not so lucky. She died after two oxygen bottles were found to be empty and a defibrillator may not have worked. A doctor was present and declined to comment but we will probably hear more about this.Airline travel when I took my first flight in 1957 was a bit exotic. Nowadays, it is the equivalent of the Greyhound bus in “It Happened One Night.” Airborne emergencies happen all the time and the cabin pressure at 5,000 feet can be dangerous to some passengers with marginal cardiac or pulmonary function. Airlines must be more responsible than this story suggests American was.