Mother sobs as BA crew admit landing jet took priority over saving Pret baguette allergy girl
‘Minimum crew to cover the doors’
THE mother of a girl who lay dying on a British Airways flight after having an allergic reaction to a baguette wept in court yesterday as the crew said landing took priority over getting a defibrillator.
Natasha Ednan-Laperouse, 15, collapsed on the flight from London to Nice after reacting to sesame seeds ‘hidden’ in the dough of the Pret A Manger artisan sandwich.
She had been on her way to a four-day break in July 2016 with her millionaire businessman father, Nadim Ednan-Laperouse, and her best friend when she bought an artichoke, olive and tapenade baguette at Heathrow’s Terminal 5.
But Natasha, who had several allergies, reacted to the seeds, which made her throat tighten and red hives flare up across her midriff before causing cardiac arrest.
Mr Ednan-Laperouse jabbed two EpiPens into her legs and a junior doctor and a cabin crew member performed CPR but she was declared dead the same day at a hospital in Nice.
Yesterday, British Airways cabin crew were questioned over their response after the inquest at West London Coroner’s Court in Fulham heard that the on-board defibrillator was not used on the flight.
Crew manager Mario Ballestri helped Dr Thomas Pearson-Jones – a junior doctor who had graduated from Oxford University the day before taking the flight – as he performed CPR on Natasha.
But Mr Ballestri said it would have been ‘too dangerous’ to get the defibrillator from the other end of the aircraft when Natasha went into cardiac arrest minutes before landing. Jeremy Hyman QC, representing Natasha’s family, also asked head of cabin crew John Harris why staff did not fetch the device.
Natasha’s mother, Tanya, wept in court and was comforted by other family members as Mr Harris said flight rules required cabin crew to take up stations near the main exits during landing, adding: ‘Without sounding harsh, the coverage of doors takes priority.’
Natasha’s 14-year-old brother, Alex, placed an arm round his mother, who was sitting beside Mr Ednan-Laperouse, the founder and chief executive of WOW Toys, and a framed photo of a smiling Natasha.
Mr Harris explained that it was a formal requirement of British Airways staff training to ensure cabin crew were in position on landing so they could get passengers off the aircraft in case of an emergency. He said Mr Ballestri was already helping Natasha, who was lying on the floor of the aircraft.
He added: ‘There were only five cabin crew on that particular flight and the aircraft had four sets of doors, totalling eight doors, and one cabin crew member was out of action. So we literally had the minimum number of crew to cover those doors.’
The inquest heard that Natasha was heard crying out, ‘Daddy, help me’ as she struggled to breathe.
Mr Harris said he encouraged Mr Ednan-Laperouse to talk to the teenager but her condition quickly deteriorated, adding: ‘There was a flicker of recognition on her face when her father spoke to her but it was gone in a flash.’
Mr Ballestri, who helped perform ‘rescue breaths’ on Natasha, said the training BA staff are given includes recognising the ‘signs and symptoms’ of anaphylactic shock. But he added that staff are told to follow orders from any doctors who become involved.
The inquest heard that a defibrillator was eventually used on Natasha, from Fulham, when French paramedics arrived after the aircraft landed in Nice.
The hearing continues.