A Gulf Air flight attendant suffered a fatal heart attack mid-flight, prompting the plane’s captain to make an emergency landing.
The incident happened on a flight from Bahrain to Paris while the plane was traveling at an altitude of around 34,000 feet.
“Yasser Saleh Al Yazidi fell ill after the seven and a half hour Gulf Air flight took off from Bahrain,” reported British newspaper Metro.
The plane made an emergency landing at an airport in Erbil, Iraq, where medics transported the fallen flight steward to a nearby hospital.
Al Yazidi was tragically pronounced dead on arrival.
Gulf Air issued a statement lamenting the cabin crew member’s death.
“The national carrier expresses its deepest condolences to the crew member’s family and loved ones, and confirms that the flight resumed to Paris as scheduled,” Gulf Air stated.
“Gulf Air reassures that the safety of its passengers and crew comes at the top of its priorities, and thanks the affected flight’s passengers for their patience and understanding.”
The tragedy comes as the pilot of a Chicago flight bound for Columbus, Ohio, passed out suddenly after takeoff last Saturday and later died at the hospital.
The New York Post notes a similar heart attack event happened in October when “a woman aboard a flight from Houston to London similarly suffered a heart attack while up in the sky.”
“That woman reportedly went into cardiac arrest in front of several other passengers, and was pronounced dead at the scene.”
Meanwhile, Metro notes another incident happened on an easyJet flight that left a UK airport just two weeks ago:
A passenger died on an easyJet flight to Gatwick airport two weeks ago.
The man, who looked to be in is 50s, was not waking up, despite the cabin crew using a defibrillator to try and save him.
Read More: Flight Attendant Suffers Heart Attack
