IN-FLIGHT MEDICAL EMERGENCIES
The rate of medical emergencies aboard commercial flights nearly doubled from 2000 to 2006, from 19 to 35 per one million passengers. Analysts attribute increase to the rising number of older passengers and flights that go farther and last longer. Airline industry medical consultant, MedAire, says there are more deaths from in-flight medical emergencies than from airline accidents. The most common medical crisis in flight is neurological, which can range from a fainting spell to a seizure to a stroke.
(USA Today 3/11/08)