Despite the best efforts of emergency services, the man was pronounced dead at the scene
A Ryanair flight from Tirana to Manchester was in ‘chaos’ after a man suffered a medical emergency and later died on board. The flight was forced to divert to London Stansted on Sunday evening (November 10).
Emergency services, including an air ambulance, the airport fire service, police and paramedics, met the aircraft after landing. The man, whose age has not been confirmed, was pronounced dead at the scene.
One passenger on board told of the horrific scenes that unfolded during the flight, as the man started ‘having convulsions’ before he was moved to the aisle and CPR was commenced, the Manchester Evening News reports.
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“He stopped breathing and everything went into chaos,” they said. “A few of us with first aid training jumped in to help and started CPR while the defibrillator was set.
“Two air crew members and three passengers manged to keep doing CPR as instructed by the defibrillator for 25 minutes when we finally landed in emergency in London. The paramedics continued for another 30 minutes when we were all instructed to leave the plane.
“After about another hour, the ambulance was still there but we boarded again with a new air crew to continue the trip to Manchester, without the man and his friends. I asked and was told that, unfortunately, the man did not make it. I was devastated to learn the sad news.”
London Stansted confirmed the flight diverted shortly before 8pm due to the medical emergency on board. The airport confirmed the plane was surrounded by medics and the airport fire service to attend to the passenger.
A spokesperson for the East of England Ambulance Service said: “One ambulance, one Hazardous Area Response Team vehicle, one paramedic car and Essex and Herts Air Ambulance were called to Stansted Airport on Sunday evening following reports of man with a medical emergency on an aircraft. Sadly, despite the best efforts of all involved, the man had died at the scene.”
Ryanair has been contacted for a comment.
