Woman told she couldn't call suicidal husband during flight

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Woman Told She Couldn't Call Suicidal Husband During Flight
Woman Told She Couldn't Call Suicidal Husband During Flight

Karen Momsen-Evers was on a Southwest Airlines flight from New Orleans back home to Milwaukee when our partners at WTMJ report she got a text from her husband that made her heart jump.

It read: "Karen, please forgive me for what I am about to do, I am going to kill myself."

"I started shaking the minute I got the text, and I was panicked. I didn't know what to do," Momsen-Evers said.

"When she went to call her husband back, a flight attendant told her no," a WTMJ reporter said.

"The steward slapped the phone down and said, 'You need to go on airplane mode now,'" Momsen-Evers said.

He cited FAA regulations, which have banned the use of cellphones in flight since 1991.

Momsen-Evers flagged down another flight attendant once the plane reached cruising altitude, and she also denied her help.

"I begged her, I said, 'I'm sure somebody could make an emergency phone call,'" Momsen-Evers said.

"But Karen says she told her no," a WTMJ reporter said.

"I just wanted somebody to go and try to save him, and nobody helped," Momsen-Evers said.

Momsen-Evers called police as soon as the plane was at the gate in Milwaukee about two hours later. It was too late.

WTMJ reached out to Southwest, which told the station flight attendants are trained to tell the captain if there is an emergency, something the airline said was not done.

"The pain of knowing something could have been done breaks my heart," Momsen-Evers said.

Fox News also reached out to the airline, and a spokesperson for Southwest told the outlet:

"Southwest Airlines transports more than 100 million Customers a year and it's not uncommon for our Crews to assist passengers with life events. ... Our hearts go out to the Evers' Family during this difficult time."

So, no explanation why Momsen-Evers was denied help when the company seems to handle passenger emergencies quite often.

Momsen-Evers has been vocal on Facebook since her husband took his life, writing in her latest post: "Let's hope some other passenger never has to suffer like this again."

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