The Spokane County Medical Examiner’s Office released the identification Monday of the 16-year-old boy who died after suffering a medical emergency on a Delta flight.
Zachery Bisiar was with family members Saturday on a flight from Seattle to Atlanta when he went into medical distress. A news release from the Spokane medical examiner said the cause of death is pending, but is thought to be “a rare complication of a rare disease process. The manner of death is natural.”
The plane was diverted to an airport in Spokane, Wash., Saturday, after Bisiar suffered a medical emergency and died on board, according to an official with the Spokane Fire Department.
The incident happened aboard Delta Flight 128, which departed Seattle around 9 a.m. Pacific time.
Michael Thomas, a Delta spokesman, told the AJC there were 258 passengers aboard the Boeing 767 jet. It had been scheduled to land in Atlanta about 4 p.m. local time.
Schaeffer said the medical distress happened about 30 minutes into the flight. The teen, who authorities said was originally from the metro Atlanta area, had a preexisting medical condition, but family members said he was medically able to fly, Schaeffer said.
Joe Ryan, a passenger aboard the plane, told the AJC in a telephone interview from the Spokane airport, that the pilot of the plane informed passengers almost immediately after takeoff that there was a medical emergency aboard the aircraft.
“The plane never really got too high,” said Ryan. “The pilot all of the sudden got on the intercom and said there was a passenger in dire need (of medical attention).”
Ryan said the teen was taken to the rear of the jet, where flight attendants and possibly others attempted lifesaving measures.
Five or six emergency vehicles met the plane at the gate, and Ryan said emergency technicians “were on the plane in seconds.”
He commended the flight attendants and pilots for their quick work, calling them “unbelievable.”
Ryan said he overheard crew and others on the plane say the teen had a preexisting medical condition, possibly cerebral palsy.
“I just feel so bad for the family,” Ryan said.
Delta worked to accommodate travel for passengers, Thomas said.
—Staff writer Michelle Shaw contributed to this report.
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