An elderly lady who appeared to be peacefully sleeping during a British Airways flight to France on Thursday evening had actually died mid-flight, according to local media outlets who reported that the 73-year-old woman may have had a heart attack during the flight to Nice on the Côte d’Azur.
A spokesperson for the airline has confirmed that a passenger on British Airways flight BA348 from London Heathrow “passed away”, although BA said it couldn’t provide specific information about the incident.
“Our thoughts are with the customer’s family at this difficult time,” a British Airways spokesperson said after the sad news came to light.
English language newspaper The Connexion reported that other passengers simply thought the woman was sleeping after the flight departed more than an hour and a half late on Thursday, but her seatmates became concerned when she didn’t move after landing as other people were gathering all of their belongings.
As it dawned on other passengers that the woman was unresponsive, the aircrew requested the assistance of emergency responders, and paramedics were dispatched to the aircraft.
Unfortunately, resuscitation attempts to unsuccessful and the woman was pronounced dead at 10 pm. Local media did not have further details about the woman or if she was travelling with family members.
