Emergency services respond to medical emergency aboard American Airlines flight

From the BNO Newsroom.
Updated with official comment from American Airlines.

NEW YORK (BNO NEWS) -- Emergency services from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey responded to an aircraft at New York's John F. Kennedy Airport on Tuesday afternoon, BNO News has learned. It was initially believed that one of the passengers had tried to hang himself in-flight.

The incident involved American Airlines flight 834 which took off from Cibao International Airport in the Dominican Republic at 7.05 pm GMT and was en-route to JFK airport in New York.

An official with American Airlines in New York, who spoke with BNO News, said the pilot of flight 834 was made aware of a passenger with a medical condition on board. The pilot alerted authorities and requested emergency medical services to be on stand-by to meet with the passenger.

The official with American Airlines refused to detail on what prompted the emergency response because of the passenger's privacy. It was initially believed that the passenger tried to hang himself in-flight. "I have heard this too but I believe it is not true," the official said. He said the passenger left the aircraft without assistance but did not know what happened to him after he got off.

A spokesperson for American Airlines said the passenger did not try to commit suicide. "The passenger did not try to commit suicide, however the passenger did have a medical condition that prompted our crew to call the tower and request assistance," the spokesman told BNO News.

The FBI also responded to investigate the incident but it was not immediately clear what prompted their response. Calls from BNO News to the FBI and the FAA were not immediately returned.

A spokeswoman with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey did not want to comment on the incident.

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