An elderly central Iowa man is dead after a weekend flight from Arizona, but it’s still unclear where or when he died. The F-A-A is investigating the death of 80-year-old James Walsh of Des Moines. Two family members flew with Walsh from Phoenix to Des Moines on Saturday, after rolling his wheelchair aboard an America West Express jet and assuming he was sedated. Once they landed, Walsh couldn’t be awakened at the airport and he was declared dead a short time later at a hospital. Walsh’s family fears he may’ve died when he was still in Arizona though the airline says he was alive when he boarded. Walsh had a history of heart and kidney problems. An autopsy is planned. It’s illegal in Iowa for anyone but a funeral director to transport a non-enbalmed body.
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