Overview
- A passenger suffered a severe cardiac block and plunged to about 60/30 blood pressure during a flight to Rome, and Nelson Castro intervened to provide emergency care.
- Castro described the woman as being at the brink of cardiac arrest and said his actions kept her stable until a physician and paramedics boarded the plane.
- The plane was on a technical stop in Rio de Janeiro when the transfer happened, and Castro said that had the aircraft already been over the Atlantic the commander might have had to return to the nearest port.
- Castro first disclosed the episode in a WhatsApp message to colleagues and Argentine outlets published accounts on November 4 and 5 while respecting the patient’s privacy.
- The woman was taken by ambulance from the aircraft to a hospital in Rio; her name and clinical outcome have not been made public and reporting remains focused on Castro’s medical intervention and the logistics of in-flight emergencies.