Complaint alleges flight personnel failed to follow emergency protocols, alert flight deck

A wrongful death lawsuit has been filed in a Virginia federal court on behalf of the estate of Porscha Tynisha Brown, a 33-year-old Maryland resident who died during an international flight operated by Korean Airlines on March 29, 2024.

The lawsuit alleges Ms. Brown’s death resulted directly from a series of critical failures by Korean Air flight personnel aboard Flight KE 94 from Washington Dulles International Airport to Seoul, South Korea.

According to the complaint, Ms. Brown experienced sudden respiratory distress approximately 12 hours into the flight, telling her traveling companions and airline personnel, “I can’t breathe,” before collapsing. Although flight attendants provided what they claimed to be an oxygen mask, after the flight, eyewitnesses discovered the mask was never connected to an oxygen supply, leaving Ms. Brown without the life-saving oxygen she urgently needed.

The lawsuit further alleges airline personnel failed to follow basic emergency protocols, including providing the onboard medical kit to passengers rendering aid and ensuring the aircraft’s Automated External Defibrillator (AED) was properly deployed and operational. Instead, even as the AED indicated that a shock was necessary to revive Ms. Brown, flight personnel stood by and watched when untrained passengers were unable to operate the machine.

In addition, the complaint states the flight crew failed to promptly notify the cockpit of the severity of the emergency, delaying a diversion to the nearest airport. The aircraft ultimately made an emergency landing in Osaka, Japan, where Ms. Brown was pronounced dead on arrival.

“Basic, well-established safety procedures were not followed,” said Charles Molster, litigation co-counsel for Ms. Brown’s estate, along with Darren Nicholson and Hannah Crowe of Burns Charest LLP. “This case involves a cascade of preventable failures that cost a young woman her life.”

Ms. Brown was a highly accomplished and respected professional, working as a safety specialist for the United States Department of Defense. Just four days before her death, she received an award for excellence from her command at Fort Belvoir. The honor was later renamed in her memory.

“She was at the beginning of her young adulthood and was a really accomplished and beloved member of her community,” said Crowe. “The shock and pain inflicted on her family as well as a wide circle of friends and co-workers has been devastating.”

The lawsuit, brought under the Montreal Convention governing international air travel, seeks damages for wrongful death, including compensation for Ms. Brown’s pain and suffering, lost future earnings and the profound loss suffered by her family, which includes her parents, brother and two young nephews.

“This is a case about accountability,” added Nicholson. “Airlines have a duty to protect their passengers, especially during medical emergencies. Ms. Brown deserved that care, and her family deserves answers.”

Last year, Nicholson and Crowe of Burns Charest secured a $9.6 million jury verdict against American Airlines in a California court based on claims that a flight crew failed to follow the airline’s procedures when a passenger suffered a stroke shortly after takeoff, leading to his paralysis.

The case is Gormly v. Korean Airlines Co., Case No. 1:26-cv-00845, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.

Burns Charest LLP is a thriving boutique litigation firm of experienced, respected attorneys with impressive records representing clients in important and high-profile cases across the country. This work includes serving as co-lead counsel in multidistrict litigation, antitrust and class action matters, oil and gas royalty disputes, environmental pollution cases, large-scale mass torts and complex commercial litigation. The firm has offices in Dallas, New Orleans, New York, and Washington, D.C.

Charles B. Molster, III is a nationally recognized trial lawyer. He attended the University of Virginia undergraduate and The University of Richmond Law School. He served as a Law Clerk for the Honorable James C. Cacheris, in the Alexandria Division of the Eastern District of Virginia and has been a practicing trial lawyer in that Court for the past 42 years. He served as a lead trial lawyer at Winston & Strawn LLP for 20 years.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260402891285/en/

“Airlines have a duty to protect their passengers, especially during medical emergencies. Ms. Brown deserved that care, and her family deserves answers.”