I remember three times in my career when I personally asked to have a passenger removed, due to illness.
The first was out of Sault St. Marie, Michigan. It was the first flight of the day- early in the morning. This was on a Convair 580 turbo prop, back in the early 1970's. The agents had boarded an elderly lady, using a "straight back" chair to get her up the stairs. Since we had stairs instead of a jetway, they would use this chair to get wheelchair passengers on board and to their seats. The woman seemed very weak. What I noticed that was most alarming was her breathing! It seemed to take great effort to get each breath! And each breath had a "rattle" to it. The moment she sat down she closed her eyes and kept gasping for breath! I touched her hand, which was cold as ice- and asked how she was feeling. In something just above a whisper, she said she just wanted to get home! Her lips and nails were blue-ish! I told the pilots I was really concerned about taking this poor woman! Her ticket was to Detroit and then connecting on- I don't remember exactly her final destination. I honestly didn't think she'd make it to Detroit! After the First Officer spoke to her for a few minutes he radioed into the agent that the woman was too ill to fly. Thank goodness her family was still in the terminal. So the agents came back onboard. She almost cried when I told her she'd need to see a doctor before flying home. (That broke my heart, but knew she was too sick) So they persuaded her to try to fly another day. A few months later the agents told me she finally flew out on an ambulance aircraft. She was suffering from Pneumonia and required a long stay in the hospital! (I felt better about my call to have her removed, since she probably would not have made it home!)
The second time was again on the Convair. We were in Traverse City, Michigan. A family boarded, including an elderly woman. As soon as she was seated she flagged me down, pointed to the overhead and asked for oxygen. Her lips were very blue. I asked if she had a heart condition, which she said she had. I grabbed an oxygen bottle and called the cockpit. "We've got a medical issue back here!" Understand, we were still on the ground at this point. I got her situated with the oxygen and went forward to the cockpit. Her son followed me saying he thought she'd be okay- just let her travel!! It took a few minutes, but the decision was made- she would need to deplane. So the whole family got off. I found out later that the family had rushed to get to the airport on time- so she was rushed and apprehensive. A few hours of relaxing in the airport and she was fine. She had calmed down, took her heart meds, and the whole family departed on the next flight!
And lastly was a gentleman who boarded in Detroit. He was a business man who lived in Pellston, Michigan and would commute to Detroit to work. Again- we were on a Convair. A bit after take-off he suddenly grabbed a sick bag and got violently ill! He was sweating profusely. I got some cold cloths to put on the back of his neck. He was pretty shaken. At one point he said he wondered if he was having a heart attack! He had such pain and a "tightening feeling" in his ribs. Plus he was so sick to his stomach! I contacted the cockpit, who then radioed ahead to our first stop- which was Traverse City. Once we landed there and the passengers for that stop deplaned- paramedics came on. After about 5 minutes they told me they had recommended he deplane and go to a hospital. He looked at me and said- "I'll take my chances. I want to get home! If I die- I die!" Well, I didn't like the sound of that!! (I wanted to say- "NOT on my airplane, you don't!"- but of course was a bit more polite than that!) I begged him to get some medical attention because I wasn't equipted to handle a heart attack. And I wanted him to have the best care! He finally agreed to get off and was whisked away to a hospital. Months later he again boarded in Detroit- heading for Pellston. I asked what had happened the time he got so ill! He said that it was determined that his appendix was ready to burst! If he had "toughed it out" and continued to his home it would have burst and he would have been in grave danger! He was grateful that I talked him into going to the hospital!
It's always a tough call when a passenger tries to travel while ill- or is violently ill on a flight. Weighing the best for the passenger against their desire to go home is a bit of a tight rope. I always felt I'd rather error on the side of precaution then to take the chance of something seriously going wrong while in the air!
Until Next Time, Dear Readers!
Life Is Indeed An Adventure, And Ill Passengers Made Some Flights A Scary Adventure, Indeed!
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