A woman died during a 12-hour flight from New Zealand to Los Angeles on Friday, July 4, prompting officials to keep passengers on the plane for over an hour while medical staff tended to the deceased.
The New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade confirmed the identify and nationality of the woman, who was in her 50s. But officials have not released her name.
"We confirm the deceased is a New Zealand citizen. No further details will be released," MFAT said in a statement obtained by the New Zealand Herald.
The woman was reportedly seated next to her husband near the back of Air New Zealand flight NZ2 when she collapsed, according to Stuff.co.nz. Crew members and a female paramedic onboard tried to revive the woman, but they were unsuccessful.
"By the time we landed I think there was little more that could be done," an unnamed witness told the news site.
Passengers were forced to stay on the plane for nearly two hours after it landed at LAX while crew waited for the coroner, who apparently could not immediately be reached because of the July 4 holiday.
"I'm guessing he was enjoying himself somewhere on the national day," passenger Justin Mayer told The New Zealand Herald.
It is not yet clear what caused the woman's death, but officials do not suspect foul play was involved. Air New Zealand will have to report the incident to the Civil Aviation Authority, a CAA spokesman told the newspaper. The body was eventually removed and is now in the coroner's possession.
Flight NZ2, which was scheduled to continue on to London, switched planes and later arrived at Heathrow Airport. But another medical emergency ensued and passengers were delayed yet again.
"When the steward announced that we had another medial emergency a few of us just couldn't believe our bad luck."
Officials did not release many details about the second delay. Passengers were allowed to disembark after an hour.
