Report Details

Carrier: American Airlines

Flight Number: 5

Date & Time of Incident: 12/19/2020 12:00 AM

Type of Incident: Death

Description of Animal: Breed: Pomeranian

Animal Name: Banjo

Description of Incident: On Saturday, December 19, 2020, 06:56 CST, one Pomeranian dog (Banjo) and two Domestic Short Hair cats, were dropped off by Lawanna Watson at the American Airlines Ticket Counter in Little Rock, AR (LIT), for air transport under air waybill 001- 35362084. They were scheduled to travel to Honolulu, HI (HNL), with a connection in Dallas-Fort Worth, TX (DFW), flights AA3656/19-Dec LIT-DFW (etd 08:00 eta 09:31) and AA0005/19-Dec DFW-HNL (etd 11:15 eta 16:03). At approximately 15:47 (HST), notification was received that the dog arrived at Honolulu, HI (HNL) unresponsive and presumed deceased. The dog was transported to the Hawaii Department of Agriculture Animal Quarantine Station for medical assessment, where it was pronounced deceased. The dog’s owner, India Nelson was notified and briefed of the situation. The deceased dog’s remains were appropriately packaged and transported to Dallas/Fort Worth, TX (DFW), (flight AA109/19 HNLDFW) for necropsy services. The dog’s remains were transferred to the Animal Emergency Hospital in Southlake, TX to complete the necropsy.

Cause of Incident: Necropsy results revealed pulmonary edema fluid accumulation in the lungs could be related to primary heart disease. Potential underlying heart condition

Corrective Action Taken: Owners approved of necropsy and have been provided results. Additional tissue testing was offered but declined by owner. Remains were cremated and sent to owners address in HI