Mentally challenged American attempts suicide at Incheon airport
Incheon International Airport / Korea Times file
By Bahk Eun-ji
Incheon International Airport’s management and Singapore Airlines have been criticized over their handling of a Chinese-American suffering bipolar disorder who attempted suicide.
The man’s family had asked the carrier to look after his safety.
According to Incheon International Airport Police on Thursday, the man, 52, landed at the airport from Thailand last month to transfer to a Los Angeles flight. The man had been traveling in Thailand, but decided to return home to Los Angeles when symptoms of his disorder began. The man then told his family he was returning, police said.
The family called Singapore Airlines and asked the airline to “keep an eye on him.” They also emailed a prescription for drugs to treat the disease.
The man stopped at Incheon Airport at 9:58 a.m. on Dec. 18 and Singapore Airlines took him to an airport security guard.
The guard and a Singapore Airlines staff member then took the man to a hotel in the airport’s transfer area instead of putting him on a plane leaving for Los Angeles at 12:30 p.m. that day.
The airport’s counterterrorism office monitored the man for 24 hours, but he jumped from the fourth floor of the transit lounge to the lobby on the third floor.
He was taken to a nearby hospital in a critical condition, police said. He is still in a coma.
An airport official said the counterterrorism office monitored the American’s move from the hotel to the lounge on CCTV and ordered a security guard to watch him, but it failed to stop him jumping.
The family claimed the man’s symptoms worsened because he was left alone. But the airport said it was not responsible because the man was a transfer passenger and therefore an airline customer.
The family, however, claimed the airport and Singapore Airlines did not pay enough attention to the man, even though they were aware of his condition.
The family is considering filing complaints against the airport and the airline.