link (https://www.yahoo.com/travel/widow-says-southwest-didnt-let-her-call-suicidal-118933913942.html)

Widow Says Southwest Didn't Let Her Call Suicidal Husband
Fox News.com
May 14, 2015

Widow Says Southwest Didn’t Let Her Call Suicidal Husband
A Southwest passenger wonders if she could have saved her husband’s life had a crewmember not intervened. (AP Photo /LM Otero)

A Wisconsin woman said Southwest Airlines refused to let her use her cell phone to make a call that could have saved her husband’s life before he committed suicide. Last month, Karen Momsen-Evers was flying back to Milwaukee after a girls’ trip to New Orleans. Right before takeoff, she received a text from her husband, Andy, that read, “Karen, please forgive me for what I am about to do, I am going to kill myself…”

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“I started shaking the minute I got the text and I was panicked, I didn’t know what to do,” Momsen-Evers told WTMJ Milwaukee. She also said she knew the text was “serious” as her husband had been very stressed recently. In response to the incident, Southwest Airlines released the following statement to WTMJ:

“Our hearts go out to the Evers family during this difficult time. Our flight attendants are trained to notify the Captain if there is an emergency that poses a hazard to the aircraft or to the passengers on-board. In this situation, the pilots were not notified.” The airline has since offered Momsen-Evers a refund for her ticket but has not provided an explanation of its handling of the situation.

The text reached her just as flight crew were finishing cabin checks, so Momsen-Evers texted back “no” and tried to call her husband. But a flight attendant intervened, asking her to turn her phone off. "The steward slapped the phone down and said you need to go on airplane mode now,” Momsen-Evers said. The unidentified crew member explained that it was “FAA regulations.”

Helpless, Momsen-Evers waited until airborne and reached out to another flight attendant. “I begged her, I said I’m sure someone can make an emergency phone call,” says Momsen-Evers but the other crew member told her nothing could be done.“I just wanted someone to go and try to save him.”
Momsen-Evers says she spent the duration of the two-hour flight sobbing in her seat and was only able to call police after the plane arrived at the gate in Milwaukee. But when Momsen-Evers arrived home she was greeted by officers who told her that her husband had already taken his life.

"They got on their knees, put their hats over their heart and gave me the, ‘I regret to inform you that your husband has died,’"Momsen-Evers said.
Momsen-Evers says more could have been done to possibly save her husband’s life. "The pain of knowing something could have been done, it breaks my heart,” She told WMTJ. Southwest Airlines has not yet responded to FoxNews.com’s request for comment.

That is really sad!

Maybe she shouldn't have gone on a "girl's trip" when her husband was obviously depressed! And if she thought it would save his life she should have made the call anyway and deal with the consequences later.

That is really sad!
Quite sad :(:(

Maybe she shouldn't have gone on a "girl's trip" when her husband was obviously depressed! And if she thought it would save his life she should have made the call anyway and deal with the consequences later.
Yeah, let's blame an innocent airline instead. How convenient. :rolleyes:
Like you said, Marvo, maybe this lady shouldn't have left her depressed husband alone to begin with. The fact that she is blaming the airline is really irresponsible.

She couldn't have stopped him with a phone call. The airline is not to blame.

On the flip side, if one of those flight attendants received a frantic call/text from their relative they would have most certainly bent the rules...

Offering a refund on her ticket is a slap in the face.

Baloney, this was an emergency! A phone call wouldn't have hurt anyone and just may have saved her husband's life. Hearing the reassuring voice of his wife just may have saved him. And who's to say he was acting depressed. I've read of many situations where a person was the life of the party, then went home and committed suicide.

Those flight attendants were downright heartless. They could have at least run it by the pilots. To those who say the airline did the right thing, ask yourselves how you would feel if the person you loved most in the world was suicidal, you know you would want to make the call. This really was a matter of life and death.

Baloney, this was an emergency! A phone call wouldn't have hurt anyone and just may have saved her husband's life. Hearing the reassuring voice of his wife just may have saved him. And who's to say he was acting depressed. I've read of many situations where a person was the life of the party, then went home and committed suicide.

Those flight attendants were downright heartless. They could have at least run it by the pilots. To those who say the airline did the right thing, ask yourselves how you would feel if the person you loved most in the world was suicidal, you know you would want to make the call. This really was a matter of life and death.

Well said Janice :-)

It is a sad situation. But even if she had spoken with her husband, do think he would have NOT committed suicide. I do agree, why she leave her husband for fun getaway if he was dispondent. I know nothing about suicide but doesn't one have sad feelings for a while and love ones know it. She must have known something might happen. What could the airline do. Make an emergency stop at the next airport to help the woman and call the nearest suicide hot line. ??? I don't think so.

Yeah coffeecup i will have to agree with you. I'm sorry for her loss, but I read this article and other articles that talks about this. Not once did she told the stewardess, "I need to use the cell phone, my husband just texeted me and threatened to commit suicide." She said it was a dire emergency, but not suicide. So I think she will loss her court case.

Yeah coffeecup i will have to agree with you. I'm sorry for her loss, but I read this article and other articles that talks about this. Not once did she told the stewardess, "I need to use the cell phone, my husband just texeted me and threatened to commit suicide." She said it was a dire emergency, but not suicide. So I think she will loss her court case.

Bingo.

We also know very little about the actual circumstance. A lot of abusive/controlling spouses use the threat of suicide on their partner to get their way, sort of a "won't you feel awful if you do such and such and I kill myself?". It's F'ed up as hell, but it happens.

I think the widow is understandably devastated and lashing out right now, however, the husband chose to take the action that he took. The flight crew isn't responsible for that, neither was his wife.

It is a sad situation. But even if she had spoken with her husband, do think he would have NOT committed suicide. I do agree, why she leave her husband for fun getaway if he was dispondent.
We'll never know what would have happened had she been allowed to speak with her husband. It's not shooting the moon to think that a wife can talk her husband out of suicide. The stewardesses saw to that. I'm sure she wouldn't have left a suicidal husband, considering she's half out of her mind now. Geez, why the hell blame her?
I know nothing about suicide but doesn't one havee sad feelings for a while and love ones know it. She must have known something might happen. What could the airline do. Make an emergency stop at the next airport to help the woman and call the nearest suicide hot line. ??? I don't think so.
You really don't know much about suicide. Loved ones don't always know that something's going to happen, no matter how much you want to blame the widow. What could the airline do? Either let her make her call or if it got to the point that she couldn't, radio the tower to call police to do a check on the man. The would be the humane thing to do, all with just a couple of calls.

We'll never know what would have happened had she been allowed to speak with her husband. It's not shooting the moon to think that a wife can talk her husband out of suicide. The stewardesses saw to that. I'm sure she wouldn't have left a suicidal husband, considering she's half out of her mind now. Geez, why the hell blame her?

You really don't know much about suicide. Loved ones don't always know that something's going to happen, no matter how much you want to blame the widow. What could the airline do? Either let her make her call or if it got to the point that she couldn't, radio the tower to call police to do a check on the man. The would be the humane thing to do, all with just a couple of calls.

Exactly. Not all family member know when someone is suffering from severe depression and/or suicidal thoughts. There are people who hide it very well. A recent example is Sawyer Sweeten. His family didn't know he was suicidal. I'm sure they would have spoken to him and did what they could to get him help if they had known.

Blaming a grieving widow is awful. Like Janice mentioned, I'm sure the woman wouldn't have gone anywhere if she had known her husband was suicidal. You might be surprised how well some people can hide the pain. Smiling on the outside and crying on the inside.

Yeah coffeecup i will have to agree with you. I'm sorry for her loss, but I read this article and other articles that talks about this. Not once did she told the stewardess, "I need to use the cell phone, my husband just texeted me and threatened to commit suicide." She said it was a dire emergency, but not suicide. So I think she will loss her court case. You don't know what she told the stewardesses or didn't tell them. My bet is that she told at least one of them what was going on. Even with a big IF that she told them it was a dire emergency, that should have been enough.

All these articles you're reading, take a look at the comments section. Looks to me they're running 8-2 in favor of the widow. I think she has a strong case. All she wanted was a little help in a time of crisis.

[QUOTE=Janice]You don't know what she told the stewardesses or didn't tell them. My bet is that she told at least one of them what was going on. Even with a big IF that she told them it was a dire emergency, that should have been enough.

How do you know? You weren't there like the rest of us. Dire emergency is not enough. Airlline is a business not a nursemaid.

Baloney, this was an emergency! A phone call wouldn't have hurt anyone and just may have saved her husband's life. Hearing the reassuring voice of his wife just may have saved him. And who's to say he was acting depressed. I've read of many situations where a person was the life of the party, then went home and committed suicide.

Those flight attendants were downright heartless. They could have at least run it by the pilots. To those who say the airline did the right thing, ask yourselves how you would feel if the person you loved most in the world was suicidal, you know you would want to make the call. This really was a matter of life and death.

Absolutely. Hope she sues the living sh*t out of them. One more reason I hate flying: flight attendants like the one this poor woman experienced.

Originally posted by Janet42
How do you know? You weren't there like the rest of us. Dire emergency is not enough. Airlline is a business not a nursemaid.
I never said I knew. That was my guess. A dire emergency isn't enough for the airlines or their apologists. A simple phone call wouldn't have killed anyone and just may have saved a man's life. Why rail so much against a simple call to check on a suicidal man? Cops check on suicidal people all the time. Just because this woman was in a no call zone, it ends there? That's insane and very cold and heartless thinking.

Some faces to the names. It seems to me that the second stewardess knew what was going on. That first steward sounds like a real ahole, slamming her phone down like that.

http://www.cnn.com/videos/us/2015/05/14/pkg-southwest-passenger-says-flight-crew-no-call-to-suicidal-husband.wtmj/video/playlists/stories-that-shock/

Airlline is a business not a nursemaid.Exactly.
Cops check on suicidal people all the time
That is their job.

Dire emergency is not enough. Airlline is a business not a nursemaid.

I'm willing to bet that if you (or anyone else reading this) were in the same situation that you'd be singing a different tune.

I side with the woman, absolutely inexcusable on the airline's part. A phone call may not have prevented him from taking his life but at least she would have the satisfaction of knowing that she tried had she been allowed to

They should have let her make the phone call under those circumstances!

I never said I knew. That was my guess. A dire emergency isn't enough for the airlines or their apologists. A simple phone call wouldn't have killed anyone and just may have saved a man's life. Why rail so much against a simple call to check on a suicidal man? Cops check on suicidal people all the time. Just because this woman was in a no call zone, it ends there? That's insane and very cold and heartless thinking.

:nod: Well said.

That is their job. Great! Then checking on that suicidal man wouldn't have been a problem.

Great! Then checking on that suicidal man wouldn't have been a problem.


Yeah. Ya know I didn't think of it, but if the airline let her use her phone she could have called 911 and the local police could have checked on the man along with a call from the wife perhaps just hearing her voice for a few minutes would have helped. Maybe he truly thought she was ignoring him! So if the airline let her make two short calls maybe he would still be alive!

janet42, people like you and Shotzette are totally stupid. The worst part of the comments you made is where you accuse the woman of being at fault for her husband's death because she left for a good time with her girlfriends
when she knew her husband was depressed. Knowing her husband was
despressed and knowing he was going to commit suicide are two totally
different things. There is possible way she could have forseen him leaving
her a text saying he was going to kill himself and insinuating that she did
is quite frankly an insult toward a grieving wife. Some people apparently
do not know what is appropriate and not appropriate on a thread like this.

Janice seems to be one of the few people on here with any real level of
sensitivity or compassion. The members on here that I just mentioned
should be thoroughly ashamed of themselves. That is all I have to say on
this matter.

janet42, people like you and Shotzette are totally stupid. The worst part of the comments you made is where you accuse the woman of being at fault for her husband's death because she left for a good time with her girlfriends
.

Lee,

Where did I accuse the wife of being at fault for her husband's suicide? If "blame" is an issue, and it's not; the husband elected to kill himself. The harsh reality is if someone wants to kill them self, they will find away.

The wife is greiving and understandably lashing out. The airline is NOT at fault for what happened. I hope the wife is able to get some counseling and support over this, but this tragedy should NOT be a pay day.

Lee,

Where did I accuse the wife of being at fault for her husband's suicide? If "blame" is an issue, and it's not; the husband elected to kill himself. The harsh reality is if someone wants to kill them self, they will find away.

The wife is greiving and understandably lashing out. The airline is NOT at fault for what happened. I hope the wife is able to get some counseling and support over this, but this tragedy should NOT be a pay day.

It's very odd to disagree with you, because I often read your posts and go"right on" but I couldn't DISAGREE with you more on this one.

Sometimes,when someone is in a desperate state, a kind word or phone call can makes a difference. Think of the many cases where a potential bridge or building jumper was talked off of the ledge. If you really think about it, someone 100% determined to kill themselves isn't going to tell anybody, because they DON'T want to be stopped; and if they want some kind of closure they'll leave a note.

Maybe the call wouldn't have made a difference, but it MIGHT have. Talk about dumb ass flight attendants and about COMMON SENSE (and human compassion) flying out the window.

I don't know if this poor woman has legal grounds to sue but I hope she explores it. And if she does I hope the airlines gets slammed; the way this poor woman was treated was SHAMEFUL. And I wouldn't mind seeing the flight attendants get vilified either.