1-year-old Japanese boy dies on flight to Hawaii

All this speculation as to the cause of death is:

a.) being performed by rank amateurs and

b.) being made with absolutely no facts other than that a death occurred to an infant and that it happened on a commercial airliner.

Time for all these "CSI-wannabe's" to take a break and let the pros do their job.

very very sad. I feel for the family, that doctor and flight crew and passengers.

ppl are so quick to find someone to blame... i guess you folks think the parents wanted their kid to die. what is with this blame speculation and blame culture i have no idea.... as a parent how would YOU like it if your kid had a mishap and people started blaming you? think about how others feel before passing judgement...

This is unbelievably sad- how could it happen???

I don't know about a dehydration link to heart attack, but techall is right about the dry air in the airplane. The dryer the air, the quicker you will lose water. That's all I got.

techall, all you are doing is speculating. The air in the plane may be dryer than being outside and on land but there is no evidence reported that this dryness led to dehydration. They took the child to the doctor according to the article and there was "no preliminary cause of death determined". If it was dehydration the doctor for sure would have found it and that would have been the cause. Cardiac arrest due to dehydration. Stop speculating. You have no evidence that the parents are to blame.

nisegaijin, people fly with babies all the time without incident. It's very unlikely that anything about the flight caused the child's heart to stop, or we would have heard this kind of thing before, don't you think?

Very sad. RIP, little one.

techall

-Don't left things off easily either.

very sad, but parents should be less selfish and avoid travel while their child is that young and weak. Lesson to all...

A lesson on what? Inane comments?

@Frungy:.

In fact I am a parent. That is exactly the attitude it takes for things like this to happen. Do you know if or when the child drank water before getting on the plane? The air in plane is much drier than the air in your child's bedroom, much drier. Another sign of dehydration is lethargy which makes it look like the child is just sleepy. I suggest, as a parent that you don't just right things off that easily.

My thoughts and prayers are with the family. I can't even begin to imagine. May God be with them...

My thoughts and prayers are with the parents. I know I'd be devestated if anything happened to my daughter, and I can only imagine what they're going through.

nisegaijin - I have a baby and before I flew with her I checked carefully with the doctor that it was safe. The official medical opinion from a qualified medical doctor is that infants in good health who are more than 3 months old are able to fly safely.

techall - It's obvious you're not a parent. If a 1-year-old is thirsty you will know all about it. Also the flight is only 9 hours. Think about it for a second would you, that's the amount of time someone sleeps every night, and you don't need to wake up for a glass of water (and neither do a lot of 1 year-olds, and even if they do it's not critical, just a top-up). Unless the child was running a severe fever or had some other complications it's highly unlikely the infant would dehydrate to a dangerous point in that amount of time. If the child was running a high fever or had any other complications standard international practice is to contact the airport at the destination where there is always a medical doctor on standby. The medical doctor can then give an opinion on the best course of action, which can include diverting to a closer airport.

Would people please stop blaming the parents. They're going through a terrible time and are probably already questioning every decision they made that day and blaming themselves. Sometimes these things just happen, it's tragic but true. The parents deserve our love, sympathy and support, not condemnation, and especially not from people who are so clearly ignorant of both parenting and international flight regulations.

It's very easy for small childeren to become dehydrated especially on air-planes because the air inside is so dry. Cardiac arrest can be caused by dehydration.

nisegaijin, sorry but your comment is not acceptable. I think the plane had nothing to do with it, the atmospheric pressure inside should be just the same as at 3000 meters, and that's not dangerous for children. It seems to be just SIDS... Very very sad for the parents.

I agree furuiqakko, this poor child most likely had an undetected heart disorder and cardiac arrest could have occured anywhere. I know of no link between flying and fatal effects on healthy children of any age. Note the word healthy. Ear pressure and jet lag is more of a concern. No one to fault here, just a sad, sad incident.

very sad, but parents should be less selfish and avoid travel while their child is that young and weak. Lesson to all...

What are you talking about? It's an unfortunate situation and has nothing to do with selfish parents. If children should not fly at one year old the airlines would not allow it.

very sad, but parents should be less selfish and avoid travel while their child is that young and weak. Lesson to all...

Very sad story. Can't help but wonder whether any condition on the flight caused him to go into a cardiac arrest.

One would think if there was a physical condition, it would come out in the autopsy.

Poor little boy. I can't imagine the state the parents are in right now.

Cardiac arrest in a 1 year old baby? wtf? How sad and heartbreaking... :( RIP sweet baby

I don't think its SIDS or LEAD. I am not a doctor... either. But plenty of people, and children are born with small holes in their heart. They often go completely undetected until someone dies or they are older. As late as their teens. I have read plenty of stories where a healthy teen athlete will just drop dead on a field because of an undiagnosed hole in their heart. Like I said. I am no doctor. But this sounds more likely than instant lead poisoning. or sids. yes... very sad indeed.

so sad. i hope they have US medical insurance or it is extremely sad and expensive.

SIDS on a plane? how horrible for all concerned.

Cardiac arrest in a 1 year old? Good grief. How very sad. My condolences.

Sad story.

Wonder if there was lead in the drinks, cups, food, etc.?

China Airlines is from Taiwan.

This could just be a case of an undetected heart condition. Let's not jump to conclusions.

My prayers go out to the child and family. So sad. But it's rare for an infant to go into cardiac arrest. China Air Lines? Wonder if there was lead in the drinks, cups, food, etc.?