Widow says Southwest crew 'left' husband to die in the bathroom after calling him an 'unruly passenger' because he was 'screaming and crying' in pain 

• Richard Ilczyszyn, 46, died on board a Southwest flight of a heart attack
• Flight attendants 'heard him groaning and crying in the cubicle'
• One staffer 'opened the door, saw him whimpering, and left him there'
• His widow, a Southwest flight attendant, is suing the firm for wrongful death
• The airline says staff are trained to treat behavior like his as a security risk 

By Mia De Graaf For Dailymail.com

Published: 09:18 EST, 20 April 2015 | Updated: 13:29 EST, 20 April 2015

A widow has accused Southwest Airlines of leaving her 46-year-old husband to die in the bathroom when he suffered a heart attack on board.

Richard Ilczyszyn, a leading financial broker, could be heard 'groaning' and 'crying' by staff on the Orange County-bound plane as it prepared to land. 

But rather than seeking medical help, the attendants allegedly left the father-of-three in the cubicle and, on landing, letting off all other passengers before calling paramedics.

Distraught, Ilczyszyn's wife Kelly, who is a Southwest flight attendant, is filing a wrongful death suit against the airline for failing to act.

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Distraught: Kelly Ilczyszyn claims her husband Richard (pictured together with their daughter Sydney) could have survived his heart attack on a Southwest flight if attendants sought medical attention rather than police

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Tragic: The leading financial broker was 46 when he lost consciousness on the Orange County-bound flight

Defending their actions, a Southwest spokesman said staff are trained to treat such behavior - screaming and crying in the bathroom - as a security risk. 

A sheriff's report stated that Ilczyszyn's foot was wedged in the door as he 'groaned' and 'cried' at the end of the flight heading home to Orange County, California, after a business trip. 

Staff described him to colleagues as 'an unruly passenger,' records reveal. 

Kelly told CBS News: 'He should have been helped on the aircraft. If they just would have gotten help.

'One flight attendant said she opened the door and she saw the top of my husband's head and his head was down and he was just whimpering, and [she] left him there.

'The paramedics should have met the aircraft. Absolutely. Absolutely. And he would be here today.'  

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Baffled: Kelly, a Southwest flight attendant, said the sequence of events goes against what she would do

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Father: She described the pain of having to tell their daughter Sydney that Richard had died

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Justice? Kelly has filed a wrongful death suit against Southwest Airlines

As a flight attendant for the same airline, Kelly explained, the sequence of events baffled her.

'I know if a passenger is in distress... we need to help them,' she said. 'We need to figure out, is he okay, does he need medical attention, what's going on. And so I was very confused why they didn't help my husband.' 

Ilczyszyn's passing was mourned by the financial community.

The founder of independent brokerage firm iiTrader, he spent 10 years as a floor trader in Chicago, and often appeared as a commentator on television. 

Beyond the lawsuit, Kelly said her focus is now on their young daughter Sydney. 

Breaking the news, she explained, was terrible.

'That was the worst. My daughter and her father were so close. I just said, "Daddy's not coming home. Daddy went to heaven".'

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3047197/Widow-says-Southwest-crew-left-husband-die-bathroom-calling-unruly-passenger-instead-getting-medical-help.html#ixzz3XwZtnI6w
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