Passenger Dies During Flight From New Zealand to Australia

On Thursday, a Qantas Airways flight was forced to make an emergency landing after one of the passengers onboard suffered a fatal heart attack.

According to 9News.au, Qantas Airways Flight QF152 departed from Auckland, New Zealand, at around 6:10 a.m. local time en route to Melbourne, Australia, when a medical emergency on board forced the plane to turn back and land at Auckland Airport.

The Qantas flight was only 30 minutes into its journey when a male passenger suffered a cardiac arrest and died onboard. A nurse on the plane attempted to help the cabin crew resuscitate the man, but efforts were unsuccessful, according to a St John's ambulance spokeswoman.

When the plane landed at Auckland Airport, it was met by paramedics who declared the man dead. At the time of the incident, the Boeing 737-800 was at full capacity, carrying a total of 174 passengers.

After the man was removed and the plane was refueled, it took off again for its destination, Melbourne Airport.

Thursday’s incident was not the first midflight death in January. Earlier this month, a male passenger also fell ill during a Kuwait Airways flight to New York City from Kuwait City and died in Ireland during a scheduled stop.

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