Asthma Attack on Mango Flight

This post is with regard to Flight JE339 from Durban to Cape Town on the 12th of August. The flight was supposed to leave Durban at 1 pm and the passengers were told the flight would be delayed for 25 minutes. The passengers boarded the plane and expected to leave at 13.30 however, there was a further delay and the passengers sat in the plane for an hour and a half. At this time, the engines were switched off and there was no air conditioning, nor exposure to fresh air in the cabin. The passengers were then asked to disembark and were told that they needed to board another plane. They did this and boarded the next plane at approximately 15.40. They were on-board for about 30 minutes before taking off. The plane eventually took off at 16.20 and landed in Cape Town at 18.30.

One of the passengers on this flight was asthmatic. I picked up the passenger from Cape Town International Airport and as soon as he walked out of the boarding gate I could see that he was wheezing and struggling to breathe. He fell down in the parking lot and I realised he was having an asthma attack. His attack continued and he was taken to a hospital where I was told that he was in severe distress due to the extremity of the attack. The doctors said the attack would have been fatal had he not been taken to a hospital on time. He was on life support for a week and was discharged after a total of 14 days in hospital.

I do believe that the attack was directly linked to the fact that the passenger was stuck on the plane with no air for over 2 hours before departure and thereafter still had to endure the two hour flight from Durban to Cape Town under duress. I do understand that flights are allowed to be delayed however, why did the passenger board the plane so much earlier than expected ? The engines were off during this time - was the cabin crew not aware of the possible health implications? People with respiratory problems cannot be in contained spaces for long periods of time especially without prior knowledge of this.

I broached this issue with Mango and Shabnam Dhansay from GuestCare only offered the passenger a measly R300 voucher which is absolutely appalling and insulting. I have seen other passengers get full refunds merely after being indignant about late flights. This case was far worse than that of any disgruntled passenger. Shabnam Dhansay showed little to no interest in the matter and did not bother to escalate the case further. Mango is definitely the country's worst domestic airline and it is evident their staff gives zero consideration about the safety and well-being of their passengers.