María Yolanda Guerrero Medina, 72, tragically died after falling ill less than two hours into a flight from Chicago to Mexico – with the plane forced to make an emergency landing
A flight to Mexico was forced to make an emergency landing after a passenger suddenly died on board.
María Yolanda Guerrero Medina, 72, from Morelia, tragically died after falling ill less than two hours into the Volaris flight.
The plane had left Chicago Midway International Airport on Saturday afternoon and was due to land at Mexico’s General Francisco Mujica International Airport, but was quickly diverted.
Medina had a 12-year long history of kidney failure and diabetes, but the details surrounding her death remain unclear, according to Mexican newspaper El Norte. She is said to have rapidly deteriorated as flight 7771, which took off at 3:13pm, made its way into Mexican airspace.
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Crew members were alerted to her condition by other passengers on board before the plane’s captain called authorities and requested approval for an emergency landing.
The plane landed at Monterrey International Airport in Mexico shortly before 5.30pm, where the patient was met by medical and security staff. Tragically, emergency services determined that Medina had no vital signs, with a preliminary report pointing to natural causes of death.
The plane was replaced with another aircraft to allow the remaining passengers to continue their journey to the scheduled destination, WLS News reports. The Mirror has contacted Volaris and Monterrey International Airport for comment.
The tragedy comes just weeks after a 51-year-old man sadly died during a Cathay Pacific flight from Manchester to Hong Kong.
The passenger fell ill on flight CX216, which took off from Manchester Airport at 11.04am on April 23 and landed at Hong Kong International Airport the following morning at 6.53am HKT (11.53pm BST).
Hong Kong police said they received a report from air traffic control at around 6.15am that a passenger had collapsed on board, according to Hong Kong Free Press.
The man was identified in local reports as having the surname Chen.
Mr Chen was an insurance broker who had immigrated to the UK with his family, HK01 reported. He had reportedly been diagnosed with cancer in the middle of last year and had been travelling frequently between Hong Kong and the UK for medical checks and business.
