A 16-year-old male teenager died on a Delta flight headed for Atlanta on Saturday shortly after the plane took off, NBC News reported.
The flight, which departed from Seattle, quickly diverted to Spokane International Airport once the crew learned of the medical emergency.
The teen's name has not been released. Although the cause of death is still uncertain, WSBTV reported that authorities believe he may have had birth defects and never flew before.
Joe Ryan, a passenger on the flight, described the frightening incident.
"The plane never really got too high," Ryan said. "The pilot all of the sudden got on the intercom and said there was a passenger in dire need (of medical attention)."
Dan Goslin, a registered nurse who was on the plane, said he and two other passengers -- a doctor and a midwife -- attempted to save the teen's life.
"He was having trouble breathing. We tried oxygen. That didn't work. We tried to move him out of the chair and get him to another position. That didn't work and everything we tried just really didn't work," Goslin said.
According to the Atlanta Journal Constitution, the teen was a native of the Atlanta area and was visiting Georgia with his mother, brother, and grandmother for Christmas. They also reported his father is in the military and was stationed in Washington.
Officials said the rest of the passengers were placed on other flights to arrive at their destinations.
