Tragedy struck an easyJet flight today when a passenger died on board. Fears were raised on the plane from Cyprus to Gatwick Airport when a man, who appeared to be in his 50s, did not wake up. A defibrillator was used in an attempt to revive the man, who appeared to be traveling alone, around 80 minutes into the journey to London. The crew did “everything possible” but could not be saved, the airline said today. Nearby passengers were reportedly asked if they wanted to move seats and told to “treat the deceased with dignity”. A person on board said the crew “calmly” asked if anyone on board was a qualified doctor or paramedic when the alarm first sounded at around 3.40pm. Two people offered to help, but none could do more than trained crew members, the Daily Star reports. When a passenger claiming to be a nurse asked if he was still breathing, a visibly shaken flight attendant told him: “We can’t say anything, sir.”
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The eyewitness praised the team for “handling the situation with exceptional composure and professionalism”. The captain confirmed the “medical incident” to passengers at 4.28pm as the plane flew over Paris. After landing in the British capital, he held paramedics on board and pronounced the man dead. In a statement, easyJet said “thoughts are with the customer’s family and friends and we are offering support and assistance at this difficult time.” “easyJet can confirm that unfortunately a passenger died on flight EZY8454 from Paphos to London Gatwick on 17 November,” a spokesman said. “The welfare of passengers and crew is always easyJet’s highest priority. “Our crew is trained to respond to medical issues and did everything possible during the flight.” Metro.co.uk has contacted Gatwick Airport for comment. Contact our news team by emailing us at [email protected] For more stories like this, check out our news page.
