Passengers on a British Airways flight were traumatized during the holiday rush when a flight attendant died in front of their eyes just as it was about to take off from London’s Heathrow Airport.
The 52-year-old flight attendant collapsed after the cabin doors had been shut. The flight was set to jet to Hong Kong just before 6:00 p.m. local time on December 31.
“Sadly, despite the best efforts of our crew, a patient was pronounced dead at the scene,” London Ambulance Service told local outlet Metro UK.
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Reports state that the captain called for medical assistance, and one passenger who was trained in first aid attempted to revive the crew member, but he was pronounced dead when first responders arrived.
The airline delayed the flight due to a “medical emergency” and took off the next day.
“Our thoughts are with our colleagues’ family and friends at this difficult time,” British Airways told the UK Sun in a statement.
The cause of the crew member’s death is not yet known. It has been noted that he had no known underlying health issues at the time.
This is not the first death of a British Airways crewmember in recent weeks.
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A different 52-year-old employee was found dead on December 23 in a hotel near Newark Airport while in between flights, causing the cancelation of his next flight.
British Airways did not immediately respond to Entrepreneur’s request for comment.
