A man has died after suffering a medical emergency while on board a Ryanair flight.
The Ryanair flight from Tirana, Albania, to Manchester Airport was forced to make an emergency landing at London Stansted on Sunday, November 10, after the horrifying incident.
Emergency service crews – which included airport fire squads, air ambulance and medics – surrounded the plane after its landing with the man being pronounced dead at the scene.
One passenger explained how other passengers onboard with first aid training attempted to help the man in scenes described as being “chaotic”, reports Manchester Evening News.
Three passengers and two air crew members tried to help the man, said a passenger, with paramedics then taking over upon the aircraft’s landing.
The witness spoke with Manchester Evening News and said: “He stopped breathing and everything went into chaos.”
It’s been reported that crew members and passengers performed CPR for around 25 minutes on the man until the plane made the emergency landing.
Witnesses added that holidaymakers were told to then leave the plane and despite everyone’s efforts he tragically passed away.
The Ryanair flight was diverted shortly before 8pm due to the medical emergency, London Stansted confirmed.
“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 a man with a medical emergency on an aircraft,” explained a spokesperson for the East of England Ambulance Service.
They added: “Sadly, despite the best efforts of all involved, the man had died at the scene.”
The incident took place on flight RK8293 where the man was reportedly “having convulsions”. It’s unknown what the man died of with no comment from Ryanair as of yet.
Witnesses added that around 90 minutes after the incident, passengers boarded again which included a fresh crew to complete the trip to Manchester.
A Stansted Airport spokesperson said: “The flight you refer to diverted into London Stansted just before 20.00 last night due to an on-board medical emergency.”
“The flight landed safely and was met by medics, airport fire service and ambulance crews.
“Despite the best efforts of all those responding to the situation, we understand the passenger did unfortunately pass away.”
Express.co.uk has approached Ryanair for comment.
