British tourist, 61, dies on Jet2 plane as it’s about to take-off in Spain

• The man, described locally as a 61-year-old tourist, lost consciousness and was pronounced dead on the plane

A British holidaymaker has died on a plane which was about to leave for the UK from a Costa airport.

The man, described locally as a 61-year-old tourist, is said to have fallen ill as the plane prepared for take-off.

The pilot put the plane’s departure on hold and radioed for medical assistance.

The unnamed passenger reportedly lost consciousness and was pronounced dead on the aircraft after emergency responders were unable to save his life.

The tragedy occurred on a Jet2 plane at Reus Airport on Spain’s Costa Dorada, around 65 miles south of Barcelona, bound for East Midlands Airport.

The incident led to a long delay, with the aircraft leaving nearly seven hours after its scheduled 11.10am departure on Friday.

The man, described locally as a 61-year-old tourist, is said to have fallen ill as the plane prepared for take-off (Stock Image)

The plane reached its destination airport just before 6pm local time.

A post-mortem is already thought to have taken place, although the results have not been made public as is normal in Spain where they will be sent directly to an investigating judge in charge of a routine inquiry into the man’s death.

One local report linked it to possible heart failure, but police have not yet made any official comment.

It was not immediately clear this morning if the dead man was travelling alone or was with family or friends.

Last month shocked passengers discovered a 73-year-old woman they thought was sleeping next to them on a BA flight from London had actually died.

The woman had boarded the BA flight 348 from Heathrow to the French city’s airport on September 21.

Reports at the time said she was believed to have suffered a heart attack in the air.

Paramedics and firefighters were called to the plane after passengers began lining up to disembark and realised something was wrong, but there was nothing they could do to revive her.

In April a Jet2 passenger died on board a flight from Tenerife to Manchester which was forced to make an emergency landing in Newquay.

Local reports at the time said the woman died after falling ill and being led to the toilet ‘in distress’. 

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