Ryanair flight forced to make emergency diversion as passenger dies onboard plane

A Ryanair passenger has tragically passed away following a medical emergency mid-flight.

The flight was forced to make an emergency landing on Sunday November 10 in London after an emergency descent.

The Ryanair service RK8293 took off from Tirana in Albania shortly after 6pm local time and was due to arrive at Manchester Airport by 8.10pm, Belfast Live reports.

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However, the plane had to be diverted shortly before 8pm, having flown over Switzerland and France, due to a medical emergency involving a male passenger. A fellow traveller on the flight informed the Manchester Evening News that a man began "having convulsions" leading to passengers with first aid skills performing CPR in the aisle.

"He stopped breathing and everything went into chaos," the passenger recounted. "A few of us with first aid training jumped in to help and started CPR while the defibrillator was set."

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"Two air crew members and three passengers managed 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."

The aircraft made an emergency descent at London Stansted where it was greeted by emergency services, including police, paramedics, and an air ambulance.

Tragically, the man, whose age is yet to be confirmed, was declared deceased at the location.

A spokesperson for the East of England Ambulance Service confirmed the tragic incident, told Belfast Live: "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."

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Adding to the statement, a representative from Stansted Airport told Belfast Live: "The flight you refer to diverted into London Stansted just before 8pm last night due to an on-board medical emergency. The flight landed safely and was met by medics, the 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."

A witness recounted the aftermath of the event, noting that passengers reboarded the aircraft around 90 minutes later with a new crew to continue their journey to Manchester.

They said: "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."