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A319 flight crew reported ATC did not provide appropriate emergency handling for a medical emergency involving a passenger.
| Attributes | |
| ACN | 978184 |
| Time | |
| Date | 201111 |
| Local Time Of Day | 1201-1800 |
| Place | |
| Locale Reference | ZZZ.TRACON |
| State Reference | US |
| Environment | |
| Flight Conditions | VMC |
| Light | Daylight |
| Aircraft 1 | |
| Make Model Name | A319 |
| Operating Under FAR Part | Part 121 |
| Flight Phase | Initial Approach |
| Person 1 | |
| Function | First Officer Pilot Flying |
| Events | |
| Anomaly | ATC Issue All Types Flight Deck / Cabin / Aircraft Event Illness |
Narrative:
On approach to the airport arriving on the STAR approximately 20 nm from the airport we were informed by the flight attendants that they had a passenger who was complaining of chest pains and was being tended to by four doctors. We declared an emergency and approach acknowledged. We were so close to landing that we did not believe calling medlink was necessary. Approach then told us they would turn us over a fix located 17.9 miles on final for 36R. The captain was busy talking to flight attendants and to company. Expecting a much shorter turn on I inquired about the lengthy final and requested a lower as we were still at 10;000 feet on downwind. The controller told me they 'could do that but would have to break other airplanes off the approach'. At this point the captain picked up the mic and told ATC to do just that we needed to land as soon as possible. We were turned on at 16nm and told to maintain 180kts until the marker.give priority handling to aircraft declaring an emergency. Approach control's response to our situation was substandard. We should have been descended and cleared to a runway immediately.
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: A319 Flight Crew reported ATC did not provide appropriate emergency handling for a medical emergency involving a passenger.
Narrative: On approach to the Airport arriving on the STAR approximately 20 nm from the airport we were informed by the flight attendants that they had a passenger who was complaining of chest pains and was being tended to by four doctors. We declared an emergency and Approach acknowledged. We were so close to landing that we did not believe calling Medlink was necessary. Approach then told us they would turn us over a fix located 17.9 miles on final for 36R. The captain was busy talking to flight attendants and to company. Expecting a much shorter turn on I inquired about the lengthy final and requested a lower as we were still at 10;000 feet on downwind. The controller told me they 'could do that but would have to break other airplanes off the approach'. At this point The Captain picked up the mic and told ATC to do just that we needed to land ASAP. We were turned on at 16nm and told to maintain 180kts until the marker.Give priority handling to aircraft declaring an emergency. Approach control's response to our situation was substandard. We should have been descended and cleared to a runway immediately.
Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.