Woman dies on board Majorca holiday plane preparing to return to UK

An elderly woman of 82 has died on board a Jet2 plane preparing to take off from Majorca to Glasgow.

Margaret Whyte, from Kilsyth, Stirlingshire, was thought to have enjoyed a week's holiday with her 52-year-old niece, and the pair were preparing to return to home from Palma Airport.

Margaret fell ill as the plane was getting ready for take-off and collapsed as staff did a head count.

Despite the cabin crew's best efforts to revive her, she passed away on board.

It is believed she died of natural causes. Her stepson Charlie told the Daily Record: "We don't have the full details yet of how she died. We are awaiting information."

According to The Sun, one passenger, from Glasgow, said: "People began doing compressions on her.

"Someone brought a defibrillator and they tried to bring her back to life. Then they covered her with blankets."

The plane was evacuated and the flight delayed for three hours while Margaret's body was taken to a local hospital.

Deaths on planes are a relatively rare phenomenon.

A Jet2 spokesman told the Daily Record: "Our thoughts and condolences are with the passenger's family and friends."

Back in December 2012, a KLM plane had to be diverted to Heathrow after a passenger was taken ill and then died on board.

And, in June 2012, a Delta Airlines flight from Detroit to Phoenix made an unexpected landing in Colorado Springs after a woman became "unresponsive" on board - and was later pronounced dead.

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